Angels of Fire
by Vyctori
Summary: A young man with a lonely, wounded heart. A young woman with a steel scythe and a stone heart on a quest for revenge. Two friends from the past, two lovers in the future.
1. Déjà Vu, Literally

Angels of Fire

By: Prince Suzaku and Vyctori Windheart.

Hello, everyone. This is Vyctori Windheart, here. I've embarked on a Yu-Gi-Oh/Golden Sun collaboration with Prince Suzaku that I hope you'll like. The concept is by Prince Suzaku and we're dividing the chapters approximately fifty-fifty. This first chapter's by Prince Suzaku. I hope you'll enjoy it.

~ * * * ~

_Revenge._

_That word means many things:_

_Retaliation. Inflicting punishment for an insult or wrongdoing. A reason to redeem oneself. _

_And in some instances, justice._

_However, to call justice revenge is to demonstrate a lack of understanding. You will not find the word "revenge" in the definition of "justice," or the word "justice" in the definition of "revenge." _

_Revenge is the application of mind, in abeyance of the Ego, toward the fulfilling of a vendetta against someone for his or her words and/or actions that seem to harm a person or their self-image. _

_Justice is absolutely impersonal, has nothing to do with Ego and attempts to even the score in the sense of responsibility and accountability. _

_In this case, a young woman is seeking revenge, in the guise of "justice," for the death of her sister and friend. Driven by rage, she leads her small group of herself, a burly Mars Adept named Agatio and a mysterious Mercury Adept known as Alex towards the Jupiter Lighthouse. _

_She travels there with the intention is seemingly the lighting of the beacon. However, her true goal is to avenge the defeat of he sister, Menardi, as well as to bathe her scythe in Isaac's blood._

_Her name...Karst._

The forest. A magical place, filled with the wonders and glories of Nature. This realm of lush greenery and serenity can bring peace to even the most chaotic of souls. In here, birds sing from the highest treetops and flowers burst forth in a spectacular display of color and beauty. At this point in the day, the time between evening and nighttime, the soft reflections of the sky give this place an ethereal look. But perhaps the most enchanting feature of this place is the solitude. The still quiet that drives the soul onto reflection and drives one to pay silent homage to this magical kingdom.

"Do you know where we are?" called Agatio.

...Well, it _was_ quiet.

"For the 33rd time, Agatio, no," spoke an exasperated Karst. "Ask me that one more time and I'll rip out your tongue."

For within the aforementioned forest were Karst and Agatio, along with a calm Alex. This group was trying to catch up to Isaac and his friends so Karst could...well, read the introduction.

But due to Agatio's map-forming skills (or lack thereof), they were lost within a wood. As they walked, Alex simply let the conversation play itself out.

"I'm pretty sure we passed by that tree before," remarked Agatio.

"How can you tell?" questioned Karst. "All the trees look exactly the same. Anyway, it's _your_ fault we're lost in the first place."

"How is it _my_ fault?"Agatio demanded, his eyes glowing with anger.

Sweeping back her beautiful crimson hair, Karst proceeded to glare back at her partner. "Because you were the one who drew the damned map and you were the one who claimed to know the whereabouts of the Jupiter Lighthouse. That's how it's your fault."

"By Mars, she can be such a brat," muttered Agatio under his breath.

A moment after that statement, a swift jet of flame shot past him, narrowly missing his face. The burly Mars Adept turned slowly to see Karst behind him, her right hand glowing.

"What was that?" inquired Karst, her ruby eyes narrowed. "If you've something to say to me, say it to my face." 

Cautiously, Alex stepped between Agatio and the feisty female before bloodshed broke. 

"Since it appears that we won't reach Isaac and company now, I suggest we rest for the night," spoke Alex. "Besides, we need to be at full strength if we're to climb Vertigo Hills."

Wordlessly, the two Fire Adepts pulled back their flames and proceeded to make camp. They proceeded to set out their sleeping bags, prepare their dinner and started a campfire. Agatio went out to find some food to eat, while Alex decided to stay to the fire. So that left Karst to gather the firewood.

The task itself was fairly simple. After all, controlling fire and wielding a scythe made finding wood quite easy. Karst gathered as much as she could, then headed back to the camp.

Suddenly, the grass shifted. There was a quiet rustling among the fallen leaves that stirred the peaceful quiet of the midnight. Though she couldn't see it, Karst's needle-sharp senses felt someone was nearby. Slowly and quietly, she drew her scythe, ready for combat.

"Hello," commented a soft voice that seemed to be everywhere and nowhere. "What's a young woman such as yourself doing out in the middle of the forest on such a night?"

"What I'm doing is none of your business, so bug off," demanded Karst, ready for battle.

"You can trust me," the voice replied. "I'm naught but a traveling fighter. You seem like a strong opponent. If I may, I'd like the honor of sparring against you."__

To prove his good intentions, the figure stepped out of the shadows. Though he was covered in a black cloak, Karst could still make out some snow-white hair. Her eyes widened a bit.

_Hmm,_ she thought. _White hair. I know it from somewhere. He seems...familiar..._

After gauging the stranger's power, Karst then began to laugh by this fool's impudence_. _"Your Psynergy is so weak that fighting would be a complete waste of my time. I could crush you in an instant."

"Well, I simply placed my power on par with yours. So really, you're the weak one right now,"replied the calm stranger.

_Smug prick_, fumed Karst. This guy reminded her way too much of Alex. _Who the hell does he think he's talking to like that!_

"Well," said Karst with a smirk on her face and her scythe on the ready. "You seem to be serious. You really want to spar against me? Fine. But I hope you know you're facing the power of a master Mars Adept!"

The young man got into a fighting stance and countered her smirk with a soft smile. "I'm a great deal stronger than I look. I may not be a Mercury Adept, but I can still hold my own against your flames." 

"Really?" spat Karst. "Hold _this!_"

With blinding speed she drew her scythe and aimed for the young lad's arm, intending to end this fight in an instant with as little bloodshed as possible. To Karst's surprise, her opponent blocked her slash with a swiftly drawn blade. The unexpected power of the blow, however, sent the sword to the ground a few feet away. 

Karst jumped back, slightly impressed. 

That blade. Only one person I've ever known wielded that weapon. But it couldn't be... 

"So you do possess some skill," commented Karst. "That makes things a lot more interesting."

She then charged again, slashing with amazing power and technique. Unleashing a barrage of slashes, she tried to back the boy into a tree, where she'd have him. Evading her attacks, he began to inch towards his blade. As he head back into a tree, he hopped to the left just as Karst struck and grabbed his katana. Taken aback, he then delivered a deadly flurry of slashes, all of which were blocked and parried with Karst's weapon. With a swift swipe at the young man's stomach, she then tried to attack his legs. The man jumped out of the way and used a sweep to trip her up. With cat-like grace, Karst blocked and delivered a strong blow to the boy's face, which was deftly evaded. 

The calm nighttime forest seemed to burst to life with the sounds of steel striking steel as sparks rained everywhere, the result of Karst's scythe's union with her opponent's blade. The two combatants fought as if they were mortal enemies, both forgetting it was supposed to be a simple sparring match. Yet for each slash and thrust, the young man countered her every swipe. And for every strike he sent, Karst parried as well. An annoyed frown covered her features as she relented her assault via scythe and withdrew. 

Placing her weapon on the ground, the tired warrior said, "This fight isn't going anywhere. I suggest we start using our true power. Besides, I'm curious as to what Psynergy you possess."

The equally exhausted young man stuck his blade into the softened earth. "As am I."

As he threw his sword onto the ground, Karst couldn't help but notice a golden pendant with a flaming crystal around his neck. 

_Now I _know_ I've seen this guy somewhere. And I know that…he's a friend…but how?_

Her hands glowing with flame, Karst then unleashed a deadly Nova attack. The bright orb of flame exploded with energy, driving her opponent back a good four feet. She then charged him, unleashing a storm of punches and kicks that avoiding all of which was impossible. As Karst unleashed another punch, he ducked and countered by tossing her to his side, using her force as the spring. After that, she bared her teeth in a wicked smile and sent a Dragon Cloud headed for him. The fiery beast struck him, but not before he delivered another strike. 

Shaken (and somewhat stirred), he got up and unleashed an attack of his own. Whipping his arm in a crescent moon-like fashion, a deadly wave of Jupiter Psynergy known as a Repukken was formed and mowed towards her. Inexperienced with that attack, Karst countered with a Fireball, yet suffered great damage from the collision of energies. After using her Healing Aura, she used a Scramble Beam to distract her opponent while she formed an Eruption headed for him. 

The white-haired fighter didn't move at all. Instead, he sent a Double Reppuken attack to counter the Beam, then hopped high into the air and unleashed an implosion of the atmosphere and his Psynergy known as a Gale Slash. The impact sent Karst sprawling on the ground, at which point he intended to end this session by summoning one of his favorite techniques, the _Ankoku Raijinken_ (Dark Thunder Punch). 

Thunder crackled and lightning shot into his outstretched head, formed a deadly sphere of energy. As he shot it towards her, the weakened Mars Adept unleashed a surprise Pyroclasm that caught him head on. Both attacks delivered their deadly treats, leaving both fighters weakened. 

In a tired voice, the opponent cried, "Enough! I concede."

With that, he began to use Potent Cure to heal himself, while Karst used Cool Aura to recover. 

Delivering a smile and a bow, he stated, "I have never been tested in a fight like just now. I'd love to know your name, since I like to remember those that have beaten me in a fair fight."

Karst then got up, and picked up her scythe. "My name is Karst. And it would be wise for you not to forget that. Since you know my name, what's yours?"

The young lad then removed his cloak to reveal a mane of white-silver hair, doe-like chocolate eyes and the most innocent smile one could dream of. At this point, Karst did a double take.

His eyes beginning to crystallize with tears, the young man stated, "My name...is Ryou Hattori."

~ * * * ~

And there's the end of Chapter One. By the way, for those of you who don't recognize him from the description, Ryou Hattori is Ryou Bakura of Yu-Gi-Oh. Please leave any comments, questions, etc. in a review. Otherwise, I'll send Menardi, my muse, after you! ~V. S. Windheart.


	2. Old Friends

Vyctori here again. Silly me forgot the disclaimer in the first chapter. Menardi, will you do it?

Menardi: *looks irked* No.

Vyctori: *losing patience* Menardi, do it. You're my muse. Muses are _supposed_ to do disclaimers. If you don't, no chocolate for you.

Menardi: Fine. Prince Suzaku and Vyctori are not the incredibly rich people who one day thought up the ideas for _Golden Sun_ or _Yu-Gi-Oh_. Sometimes, I wish Vyctori were one of those two people, so she could buy me some more stuff, but sadly, she ain't.

Vyctori: Yeah, if I was half that rich, I'd obtain the rights to _Golden Sun_, switch things around so none of the Proxians die and make a game from their point of view for Empress Dotdotdot, Shadow, and I. Anyway, the review counter lists two reviews, but since one of them got eaten, I'll respond the only one left from my faithful reader (and reviewer...hint, hint) Yoshimi!

Yoshimi Takahashi: I'm sure Prince Suzaku will be thanking you. I, too, enjoyed the switch from being deadly serious to Karst and Agatio's bantering. And I agree. That fight scene was better than I could write, too. And here's the update!

*****

On another note, ff.net seems to be really slow today. And it's looking kinda...weird. Anyway, here's the next chapter, written by yours truly.

~ * * * ~

"_R-Ryou?_" Karst stuttered, unable to believe her eyes. How did I not recognize him before? she wondered, mentally cursing herself for her blindness. "What in the name of Mars are you _doing_ here?"

Ryou sniffed, swiping at his eyes. He didn't reply, instead brushing off some dirt that had smeared itself on his tunic shoulder from their battle.

"Ryou..." Karst's small supply of patience was rapidly diminishing. "Tell me or this scythe's going somewhere unpleasant." She gestured threateningly with her weapon.

Her friend couldn't help but laugh. After so long, she hadn't changed a bit. "If you must know…I couldn't stand the suspense waiting back home and so I decided to come in search of you and Agatio." He saddened. "I heard that Menardi and Saturos are gone."

Karst's face set itself until it was harder than steel. "Yes. I had word from Felix--my dear sister and Saturos fell in battle against a warrior named Isaac."

"I'm sorry," he offered gently.

Karst, who had been staring off into the forest, shook her head abruptly. "Don't be. It's Isaac who's going to be apologizing for what he did...just before my blade parts his head from his body."

"Are you sure you should be doing this?" Ryou asked her.

"Why not? Why should I not avenge the death of my sibling, the person whom I loved the most in this Fate-forsaken world?" Karst snapped angrily, turning on him. "Why should I not destroy the one who so carelessly took her life and that of Saturos? Answer me!"

He held up his hands. "No, that's not what I'm saying! I just think that the illumination of the two lighthouses should be your primary concern. There's time enough to hunt down this Isaac person, but the rift grows larger each and every day. I've been watching and measuring--we only have a year at the most left to us!"

Karst's thoughts were briefly drawn away from the subject of Saturos and Menardi's death. "Ryou, are you sure? When I left, they were saying we would live for at least twice that amount of time. The fissure must have grown enormously since I last viewed it!"

Ryou nodded. "I'm as sure as I can be. That's another reason why I'm here--to warn you and Agatio to hurry. If--"

"_Karst!_" Agatio's deep voice boomed. "Where are you? How long can it take to gather up a few twigs, for the love of Prox?"

Karst grimaced. "_Be patient, you big lummox!_" she screeched back.

Even from a distance, Karst could hear his snort. "Like you?"

Karst sighed. "Come on, Ryou. You might as well come back to camp with me. Help me find some firewood…?"

Ryou couldn't help laughing. "Sure!"

They picked up as much dry wood as they could carry, occasionally breaking off a few branches from a few dead trees scattered here and there. They carefully chose pieces of all sizes. The smaller bits of wood would be used as kindling. Once the fire caught, the one who was tending the flames would toss on larger pieces, and a log now and again.

As soon as they were done searching, Karst and Ryou returned to the temporary site, side by side. Agatio gaped when he saw her with Ryou and even the unflappable Alex seemed rather surprised.

"Let me guess," Alex questioned dryly. "You were chopping down a tree and this sprang out?"

Karst stuck out her small pink tongue. "Alex, don't be a moron. This is Ryou Hattori. I, uh, met up with him while I was hunting for some 'twigs,' as Agatio put it."

"Ah. That would explain the unusual noises we heard earlier," Alex deduced.

Ryou raised a snow-white eyebrow. "Unusual noises?"

The blue-haired Mercury Adept shrugged. "Shrieks, metal against metal, gasps, and so on."

"So if you knew we were fighting, why didn't you come to help?" Karst seemed irked.

"Cause you'd bite our heads off if we hinted that you weren't up to the challenge!" Agatio rapidly declared. "Come on, Karst. We're not stupid."

"Want to bet?" Karst gave him a look. "This is the person who thought until he was _fourteen years old_ that the sky was blue because Iris the Sun Goddess painted it every morning."

Agatio blushed purple, his pale blue skin and red blood combining to form the unusual shade. "That was ages ago, Karst."

Karst simply smirked and dropped off her load of wood, brushing flecks of bark off her muscular upper arms. "Anyway, Ryou here came with an important message from Prox. Ryou?"

Ryou looked up from where he had been arranging the wood so it would catch properly when Karst or Agatio set it ablaze. "Yes, that's right."

He related his news to the group. When he was finished, Agatio frowned.

"This isn't good," he began.

"What, _really?_" Karst inquired sarcastically.

Agatio ignored her. "I suppose we had better start traveling faster and longer, in that case. Karst, do you agree?" He turned to the leader of their group expectantly.

"Agatio, you never cease to amaze me. For once, a good idea came from your tiny mind," Karst teased him. "The world really _is_ about to end."

"Aw, shut up," Agatio mumbled as the rest of the group laughed. "Let's eat."

They consumed a portion of the supplies from their packs, carefully rationing what was left so that they would have enough food to last them until the next town where they could purchase more. When they offered Ryou something, he declined, saying he had plenty to eat of his own and didn't want to take away from what they had. After spending an evening chatting and ribbing each other, they each laid out a blanket upon which to sleep and settled in for the night.

Karst, about to drop off into slumber, remembered something. She rolled off her blanket and moved softly over to where Ryou was gazing at the clear, star-speckled sky.

"Ryou...?" she inquired.

"Yes, Karst?" he murmured, feeling at peace as he admired the sparkling lights above them.

"Why were you crying earlier?"

"Oh." Ryou attempted to shrug while lying down, something rather difficult to achieve. "Well...I know you're going to think me silly, but..."

"What?" Karst folded her arms.

Seeing that she was once again growing irritable, he quickly finished, "I felt bad for hurting you, that's all. You _are_ my best friend, and you have been ever since I can remember. It just was...unpleasant...to be the one damaging you, making you bleed..."

"Um...right." Karst wore a wry look. How like her friend to be so caring. She supposed it wasn't the nicest thing in the world to do, injuring a friend, but at least she hadn't sliced off his arm or something. When she and Agatio practiced, she often would laugh at him if he were too slow in avoiding her scythe, telling him he'd have to do better. People would taunt him, she'd say sardonically, for being so weak as to be beaten by a _girl_. After all, it wasn't like she didn't cast Healing Aura on them after every session.

"Well, I'm glad it wasn't anything serious," she concluded. "G'night, Ryou."

"Pleasant dreams," he wished her.

Karst returned to her makeshift bed and curled up under the covers, leaving Ryou to his nighttime ponderings. Soon, she felt the heaviness of sleep seep into her limbs. She was exhausted from the fight with Ryou and was very glad that Alex had first watch. She exhaled deeply and was out in seconds.

~ * * * ~

Vyctori: And that's it for this chapter. Next up is Prince Suzaku!

Menardi: All I'm going to say is, Karst had better be treated well in this fic, cause if not... *gestures unmistakably with scythe*

Vyctori: *sweatdrop*

Menardi: Same goes if you don't review. You have been warned...


	3. Artistic Genius and Revenge

I think you all know who this is by now--Vyctori, of course! Sorry about the delay between chapters. Prince Suzaku was quite busy. This is his chapter, by the way. Apologies from both of us to those of you who were waiting (if anyone was waiting...).

The reviewers...

Yoshimi Takahashi: Ah, my faithful reader. Thanks for being one of my best supporters! I really appreciate when you demonstrate what you find interesting/amusing/whatever...it makes it that much easier for me to write my chapters. Thanks for the compliments, and no, Agatio _never_ can catch a break! ^_^

man: "..." Okay, no offence, but that was completely pointless. If you're going to take the time to review, at least say something that either butters me up or helps me improve the story, all right?

***

Whee! We've doubled the amount of reviews from the last chapter! One seems to have mysteriously vanished, though... # Anyway, here's Prince Suzaku with Chapter Three!

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Chapter 3
    
    _The flow of time is always cruel._
    
    _Its speed seems different for each person, but no one can change it._
    
    _A thing that doesn't change with time is a memory of younger days..._
    
    -Minuet of Forest

As the chilling night gave way to a glorious morning, the forest burst forth with renewed vigor. The sunlight flooded the trees, which blocked the light from waking up those still asleep. And amidst these excited surroundings were the group of Karst, Agatio and Alex, plus their new ally, one Ryou Hattori, traveling in their quest to save Prox from the wrath of an unreleased Alchemy. During their travels, aside from vanquishing deadly monsters, the three would talk about their respective travels and other small talk, Alex remaining in character as the seemingly "cold fish."

A cool breeze greeted the foursome as they came across a wide lake. The crystalline waters seemed to revive those simply gazing into its unfathomable depths, and the soft grass and blossoming flowers seemed to add onto the landscape. The whole scene radiated a gentle calm that Ryou and his friends couldn't help but enjoy. So stopping for a break and a nap, the Water and Fire Adepts took a break from their travels, sensing they'd be in the next town by nightfall.

Karst and Agatio were feeling sleepy, so they decided to rest up a bit before heading to the next town. Agatio was rolling about in his slumber, forming a small cloud of dust. The burly fighter was tossing and turning, mumbling something about Saturos and the theft of cookies. Alex was reflecting onto the waters, a slight sliver of a smile possessing him as he thought of things and people of long ago. And Karst was asleep, softly breathing with a strand of silken crimson hair falling over her face. Her face was locked in the peaceful gaze of sleeping mortals, her mouth etched in a feather-soft smile.

_Karst looks a great deal different when asleep_, thought Ryou. _She looks like an angel. Yeah, angel wings. That'd be perfect..._

At the present moment, Ryou was sketching Karst in her sleep, adding another to a large book of drawings. With the perfected grace of a master and the watchful eye of a novice, he copied each detail with the greatest care. The stray hair over her eyes, the eyelashes, the angle at which her head was and the heavenly smile…all was captured in immortal time. Using some paints he purchased a while ago, he gave the gift of color to his drawing, using them to trace the angel wings with such delicacy that one would be hard-pressed to find them at all. Satisfied with his drawing, he placed his name in the bottom right-hand corner. 

"This drawing is excellent, Ryou."__

Startled, the white-haired Water Adept turned around to find Alex standing over him, viewing his work.

"Hasn't anyone told you it's impolite to look over one's shoulder?" questioned Ryou.

"Well it can't be helped. It's quite difficult to tear yourself away from pictures of utter brilliance," replied Alex.

"Thanks...I guess." 

Alex then sat next to Ryou and coolly asked him, "So how long have you known Agatio and Karst?"

Taken aback by that question, he stated, "I've known her for about fourteen years. I used to play with her, Saturos, Menardi, and Agatio all the time in Prox."

Sensing that Ryou was growing a tad uncomfortable with the subject, Alex tactfully went on to another question.

"So you like to draw." It was really more of a statement than an inquiry.

Ryou gave a small shrug. "It's a hobby of mine. I just like to draw beautiful things."

Alex then raised an aqua eyebrow, about to ask why he chose to sketch the female Mars Adept. Through he decided to not utter a word, the look on his face spoke volumes.

Ryou then handed the book to him, allowing him to view the contents within. 

The first part of the book was a treasure chest of beautiful landscapes, ranging from the crystalline arctic, to the harsh mountains, the calm sea, the impressive plains and even a raging inferno. Clearly, these were the lands Ryou has visited. The book then revealed the faces of many different people, including two young men, one much taller and more serious than his younger counterpart, with scarlet, golden and black hair wearing the same pendent Ryou possesses. There was also a sword-wielding, tall brunette with the coldest blue eyes of all, and a young redhead holding a polished rose in her hands. He also viewed delicate pictures drawn of Saturos, Menardi, Karst and Agatio as little ones. They were playing games and sparring with that golden innocence that young ones possess before life rears its ugly head.

The one Alex couldn't take his eyes off of was the self-portrait of Ryou in an angel's garb. His soft brown eyes were cast with a joyful somberness, while his mouth held the dreamy smile of a sad clown. The left side of his face was bathed in light and held an angel's wing, while his right bore a demon's appendage, which drove away the radiance and left him cloaked in shadow. The picture looked beautiful, yet horrifying, drawn with such a magnificent sadness that the frosty Alex choked back a tear. 

"I see you enjoy that one. For some reason, I just get a chill whenever I see it."

"Whenever you see what?" asked a still sleepy Karst.

"Ahh!" screamed Ryou, caught unawares, noticing that Alex has teleported away to give them some privacy. "Um…nothing."

Deciding to stray off the subject for now, Karst then talked to Ryou about something she thought about when asleep.

"During our duel last night, you said you had your power on par with mine, am I right?"

Ryou hesitated a bit before answering, "Yes, I did."

"And you know I wasn't at my best, right?"

Curious as to where she was going with this, the white-haired Adept said, "I had a hunch. If you were, at the level I was at, I wouldn't have stood a chance."

"Well then," stated Karst, "I want to fight you again. But this time, let's not use our Psynergies to fight. It'll be my scythe versus your Tensuiga. I know you're stronger than what I saw yesterday. After all, when I defeat my opponents, I want them at their best," she ended, a teasing smirk on her face. 

Knowing this was one of those situations where you're given a choice, but you really don't have one, Ryou accepted. Intent on countering her remarks, he stated, "Fine then. It would be a pleasure to duel you again, my dear. Perhaps this time, you'll actually give me a decent struggle."

The Mars Adept narrowed her scarlet eyes. "And what is _that_ supposed to mean, Ryou?"

"Well," he started, drawing his Tensuiga, "I just thought that a 'master Mars Adept' would be stronger than what you showed me yesterday. I could have evaded all of those swipes blindfolded." Then, he delivered the verbal coup de grace with "Overall, not too bad...for a _girl_."

Those who know Karst realize they shouldn't say certain things about or around her person. Her naturally fiery personality, the deadly flames she controls and the bloodline she carries combine to give her a somewhat volatile temper, with a few things setting her off in a fearsome blaze of carnage, number one being those who say that she (and women in general) can't be as great as warriors as men.

And Ryou knew that.

With a silkily sweet smile and vicious fire burning in her eyes, the female Proxian delivered a terrible slash to Ryou, which he deftly blocked using his blade. With an enraged yell, she dove at him, using her greater strength and technique to strike him. But whereas Karst was stronger, Ryou was faster, evading her blows with relative ease, parrying those he couldn't avoid. 

Somehow, though, he couldn't help but notice the beauty of her rose-colored eyes, something he never noticed before and shouldn't have now that Karst was busy trying to spit him. For all of her outward fury, Karst was simply out for revenge. For now, she had Ryou just where she wanted him...

On the edge of the lake. 

Ryou back up more and more, trying to get away from this madwoman. Her eyes glittering with fury and hands ablaze with fire, Karst looked ready to kill. And though he knew she'd never kill him, Ryou thought, that didn't mean she couldn't _maim_ him a bit. He was about ready to apologize for his jests when the back of his boots felt water. He then realized what was about to happen, but it was too late.

With a slow, steady movement, Karst walked up to him and then pushed him into the water. He went down for a moment or two, then came back up, his white hair plastered to him in odd places. His face was covered with an annoyed expression, which became more so watching Karst shaking her head and laughing her head off.

~ * * * ~

Vyctori: *giggles* Whoops, Ryou ended up swimming with the fishies!

Menardi: Yay, sis! Now, don't forget to review--and don't review pointlessly, because it doesn't exactly amuse me.

Vyctori: Impress us, readers, with your verbal talents! ^_^


	4. Thwarting Ignorance

And Vyctori's back with another update! This current chapter is a joint effort between Suzaku and I--anyone wanna try to guess who wrote what? A cookie to everyone who gets it right! We'll probably be doing this for the rest of the fic, so keep an eye out.

I can't really do review responses for the chapter, since Suzaku wrote the previous part (I've tried...it's just too hard), so instead, I'll just say thank you very much to:

BishouNeko, Yoshimi Takahashi, Katsu Solaris and Lunaris, Feral Claw, and Allexandra Radcliff!

Thank you very much for taking time to review this--it means a lot to me and, I'm quite sure, Suzaku.

Er, can't think of anything else to say. Enjoy the chapter; I had a lot of fun writing my part. ^_^

~ * * * ~

"Hard luck, Ryou!" Karst chortled. "Guess you had better think twice before challenging me to a battle, huh?"

Ryou watched her with narrowed eyes, saying not a word. At first, Karst thought he was still rather sore over his undignified loss, but became concerned when his silence continued.

"Ryou? Hey, Ryou? Are you okay?" When he still didn't answer, Karst moved closer to the riverbank to check on him.

It was exactly what he had been waiting for. Faster than she thought possible, Ryou's hand snapped forwards and closed around her slender, booted ankle. With a speedy jerk, he yanked her into the stream alongside him.

Karst surfaced with a screech of outrage and gave Ryou a deadly look. The ordinarily kind young man was snickering quite loudly, knowing her distaste for water, and cold water at that. In revenge, she seized a handful of his snowy hair in both her hands and shoved downwards with all her strength. Ryou was cut off in mid-laugh as his head vanished beneath the frigid water.

Karst waited until he was half-drowned before letting him up. "There, you moron! Next time think before bringing me in contact with cold water."

"Karst? Ryou? Where'd you go?" Agatio's voice rang out through the woods. A couple of moments later, he ambled into sight. "Hey, what're you two doing, having a bath?" He snorted. "'Cause it's standard practice to take your clothes off first." 

Ryou blushed at his words and scrambled out of the river. Then he held out his hand to help Karst out; she ignored him.

"I can get out fine myself!" she snapped at him. "Just because I'm a girl..."

Ryou seemed surprised. "That has nothing to do with it. I was just trying to be nice..."

Karst flipped her dripping fringe away from her eyes, embarrassed. "Sorry. It's just the half of the men who don't run away from my odd looks try to do every little thing for me, just because I'm a 'lady.'" She made a face at the word. "I just thought that was more of the same."

"It's all right. Don't worry about it." Ryou gave her his sympathetic smile and then wrung out a sleeve of his tunic.

"Sorry to interrupt, but Alex is probably wondering if we've been eaten by a bear right now. We had better get back to camp," Agatio reminded them.

They began the small walk back to where Alex was patiently waiting. Ryou's footsteps squelched unattractively until Karst ordered him to hold still while she used her Mars Psynergy to dry him off. Ryou was grateful, but the heat caused his fine hair to bush around his head like a berserk halo. This provided Karst and Agatio with much amusement as they packed up their supplies and headed towards the next town. Finally, thanks to Ryou's map skills, they were back on track, and it turned out, they were less than a day's hike to Contigo.

With the change of a new person in their group, the normal trudging march was actually entertaining. Ryou told them comical stories of his travels south of Prox. The time passed quite quickly and by the time evening had begun to close in, they had finally arrived in Contigo.

Once there, Alex volunteered to track down the local inn and reserve them rooms. Agatio decided to explore the town and question its occupants for information on Jupiter Lighthouse. Karst tried to dissuade him--subtlety had never been one of his shining qualities--but Agatio was stubborn. Normally, Karst could best him in a battle of wills, but after a long day, she simply did not want to bother. That left her and Ryou to check the weapons and armour shop, to see if there was a way for them to upgrade their gear.

Inside the shop, Karst fingered the swords and axes with a frown. She tested their edges and picked up two or three of them. However, there weren't any that she liked as well as her scythe, so she let them drop. Ryou, too, seemed unimpressed by their quality, preferring to stick with his Tensuiga blade, muttering something about "second-rate weaponry."

But Karst _did_ find a good set of armour that she liked very much. Normally, she disliked the restriction of the weighty metal, but this armour was lightweight and surprisingly flexible.

"I'll take it," she announced to no one in particular. "Hey, shopkeeper!"

The man in charge of armour ducked out from a spare room, smiling. Then his smile faded and vanished when he saw just who was addressing him.

Karst attempted to ignore his attitude. "I'd like to buy this piece of armour. How much is it?" She set it on the wooden counter.

To her shock, the man snatched up the gear and held it away from her. "Too much for the likes of you. Get out of my shop, you freak!"

Karst clenched her fists in anger. "Give me that armour! My money's as good as anyone else, so hand it over!"

"What, may I ask, is the problem?" asked Ryou, who was walking over after testing an axe. "Karst here has the money needed to purchase this armour, so why can't you sell it to her?"

"I will not sell you this armour, _miss_," spat the storekeeper, sneering at the two. "Is that clear?"

"I would recommend doing what my _friend_ requests," Ryou suggested coolly. He leaned with a deceptive casualness on the counter, a warm smile masking growing contempt. "She doesn't take snubs well, and neither do I."

"And why are you friends with her anyway?" the armour man asked Ryou. 

With a disdainful glare towards Karst, he stated, "You seem like a normal enough guy. But, _she's _a...a..." stuttered the armour keeper, searching his feeble mind for a word deemed appropriate to call the fiery Mars Adept.

"A what? Freak? Daemon? Barbarian? Is that what you were going to say?" the white-haired Adept demanded.

Sneering and nodding, the man added a few more expletives to the list towards an already pissed Karst, who was a few seconds away from losing her patience and proving his idiotic beliefs by burning the store to the ground. Feeling her temper and Psynergy flare up, Ryou decided to end this idiocy before someone (mainly the armour man) got barbequed. Enraged that someone would speak this way to another without just cause (and especially being Karst), Ryou walked up to the arrogant man, smiling for all the world like a cherub.

The white-haired angel continued to grin as he delivered a swift blow to the armour man's gut, sending him to the ground. 

Placing two fingers on the storekeeper's wrist, he pushed down on the pressure point, causing a slight surge of pain. His normally calm façade dissipated into pure furore, and his normally soft eyes became cold and sharper looking, giving him a malevolent aura. As he held the guy up, Ryou spoke with a calm voice as sweet as honey, yet as deadly as an adder's bite.

"I don't know where you get off calling Karst a 'daemon' or 'freak', but it was quite inappropriate. Your actions and words, _sir_," he stated, spitting out the word as if it were a curse, "demonstrate a complete lack of intelligence and a disturbing amount of ignorance and bigotry. Not only was your behaviour self-defacing and demeaning, it was rude and racist to the utmost degree."

Pressing down on the man's wrist and relishing in the whimpers he made, Ryou continued. 

"Karst is my best friend and has been for my whole life. She's not a freak, daemon or barbarian. In fact, she's quite beautiful. She hails from Prox, and if you weren't living in a constant haze of stupidity, you'd know that. If you bothered to see past her looks, you'd see a girl who's funny, smart, kind and an incredible fighter. But I guess having your head that far up your ass could make that quite difficult."

Ryou smiled a bit at Karst's roar of laughter, trying to calm her down while "educating" the armour keeper.

"What more, I truly do not give a damn what you or others may think about my friendship with Karst or anyone else. She is my friend, and will be forever. If you understood that, difficult as that would be for you, you'd be a lot happier and easier to deal with. So we and the rest of the world would appreciate it if you kept your unfounded ignorance and bigotry to yourself." 

And with that, Ryou dropped the poor asshole on the floor and dusted his hands as if he held something diseased, leaving him bruised in many senses of the word.

The armour seller frowned and began a reply, but the looks on both their faces and the pain and verbal lashing brought on by the white-haired boy quickly caused him to snap his mouth shut again. Biting his lip so hard Karst thought it would begin to bleed at any moment, he handed over the equipment.

"How much?" Karst snipped the ends off the two words.

"Six thousand coins." The shopkeeper's answer was equally short.

Karst dropped six pouches, each containing one thousand coins, on the desk. She grabbed the armour quickly, in case the man changed his mind. But just before they left the shop, the redhead couldn't resist a parting shot.

"I suggest that the next time that you feel an urge to embarrass yourself and bore others, that you summon all your might and resist," she stated as she and a laughing Ryou exited the shop.

Once they were outside, Ryou burst out, "How could that man possibly treat you that way?"

Karst looked tired. She turned the chest plate over and over in her hands. "You're not a Proxian--you could never know. In every town, we get the same treatment. Sometimes it's from a storeowner, sometimes an innkeeper, often just random people on the street. To them, we're unnatural beings, less than human...cursed..."

Ryou moved and laid a tender hand on Karst's shoulder, careful not to rest it upon her razor-edged shoulder scales. "I do know."

"_How?_" Temper made her sharper than she intended. She sighed. "Ryou, I'm sorry."

"No, it's all right." For a moment, Ryou's eyes seemed slightly unfocused, as if he was gazing inside a place he didn't want to go. "Karst, I never told you why my cousin and I, along with our mothers, came to Prox, did I?"

Karst shook her head. "No...we all just assumed you were lost. Why? Was there another reason?"

Ryou's hand on her shoulder tightened slightly, unconsciously. "You know that we were originally from Imil, correct? Where there is supposedly only a Mercury Clan. Yet because the powers of my cousin and I were different from the pure-blooded Mercury healers, we were labelled 'daemons' and were cast out from Imil, along with our mothers. We were forbidden to return under pain of death. We wandered for a long time, searching for a new home, when we came to Prox. You were the only people to welcome us, and so we stayed."

Karst reached a hand up and placed it over Ryou's. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. It was a long time ago. I'm past that now." Ryou moved his hand away suddenly, embarrassed, and gave her a sweet smile. "Why don't we go see if Alex was able to reserve us some rooms at the inn, all right?"

"Sure." Karst stowed her armour safely, and then the two of them strolled through the streets of Contigo, ignoring the stares Karst's foreign appearance drew.

~ * * * ~

Vyctori: Aww...how sweet!

Menardi: *grumbling*

  
Vyctori: What's that?

Menardi: I don't like the thought of anyone dating my sister. I changed her diapers! It's hard to see her like...that.

Vyctori: *grins* Now there's a thought. Karst in diapers. Anyway, review, please.

Menardi: Or you shall be most thoroughly thrashed, by me.


	5. Torture of the Worst Kind

And it's Vyctori back with another update! Yay...!

Can't think of anything to say at the moment, so I'll just move on to the review responses, because I actually _wrote_ part of the last chapter, I can _answer!_

Katsuharu Miyoku: Sorry, Solaris, but you're right. I _am_ broke...Menardi's an expensive muse.

Menardi: I scarred another person for life? Great! *ticks off something on a piece of paper* So, in my career as Vyctori's muse, I have done so with approximately three hundred people. Not just reviewers, either, but neighbours, acquaintances, friends, even the mailperson. *grins wickedly* You're right. Being a Mars Adept is fun!

Yoshimi Takahashi: You get half a cookie, because you were mostly right. I wrote to "Karst clenched her fists in anger. "Give me that armour! My money's as good as anyone else, so hand it over!"" Then Suzaku expanded the scene with the 'freak, daemon,' etc. comments and Ryou's infliction of physical pain on said shopkeeper. I wrote from "The armour seller frowned and began a reply..." to the end, but Suzaku had to fix up some of Ryou's past for me. And I made up the chapter title, on the spur of the moment. 

Here's the update!

Allexandra Radcliffe: The part with Ryou getting mad at the shopkeeper wasn't actually _in_ The Lost Age, but we wanted it in to bring Karst and Ryou a little closer (well, I wrote it and Suzaku agreed with it). And don't worry about ranting. Ranting=very good. I do it all the time. Anyway, here's our continuation!

SSJ-KybokSilverfang: Aw, thanks for the compliments! ^_^ And we will keep writing!

Feral Claw: Yeah, I have to admit that the concept is pretty unusual. I actually am not that much of a Kaiba fan (which is weird, since I wrote an entire fic with him as one of the two main characters, and am planning on a sequel 0_o;;;). Glad you like this--when am I going to see an update on _your_ fic, huh? Kidding!

*****

Well, that's everyone! Now, shoo! Go read another joint chapter by Suzaku and I!

~ * * * ~

When they arrived at the inn, they discovered Alex and Agatio waiting for them in the common room. Alex, true to his word, had reserved two rooms--one for the men, and the other for Karst. The innkeeper did not utter a single syllable until the party of four had exited the main chamber, nor did his eyes leave their fixed positions on their backs.

"What's up with him?" Karst wanted to know as she helped Ryou unpack his gear.

Alex wore an amused expression. "Well, Agatio had finished his inquiries and arrived just as I was paying for our rooms. The keeper of this fine establishment had thought to protest renting out a portion of this building to someone as unusual as Agatio."

"And?" Ryou prompted.

Agatio grinned. "I cracked my knuckles and leaned over the front desk. The expression on his face was beautiful...absolutely priceless."

Alex corrected, "Not precisely beautiful...it was more like complete, unadulterated terror. But we will encounter no difficulties staying here for the night."

Karst couldn't help smiling. "Good enough. And if he does think to open his mouth, I'll just let him admire how nice and shiny and _sharp_ my scythe is for a bit. Now, I don't know about you, but I'm starving. How about we see what kind of food they serve in this place?"

As it turned out, the fare was quite excellent. As they consumed a rather late supper, Agatio filled Ryou and Karst in on what he had learned about Jupiter Lighthouse.

"The villagers didn't actually have much to say about it," he managed around a huge mouthful of food.

Karst wrinkled her nose in disgust and instead focused her attention on Alex, who was seated across from her. The Mercury Adept set down his fork and patted his mouth delicately with a cloth napkin.

"But they did mention several interesting things about Jupiter Adepts," Alex remarked. "Agatio...?" 

"Yeah, just about the power of the Anemos." Agatio gulped down his mouthful and guzzled some ale. "Some city of Jupiter Adepts supposedly floated into the air one day. Since then, there haven't been many Wind Adepts around. Which is too bad, 'cause you need this 'power of the Anemos' to enter Jupiter Lighthouse."****

"Ryou, would you be able to do anything?" Karst questioned the young man seated next to her.

"I don't even know what the power of the Anemos is, so how can I?" he responded pragmatically.

"Not to worry. I hold the ability in question," Alex informed them. "It is Hover, a type of Psynergy I acquired on my travels."

Agatio stared at him, fork midway to his mouth. "But you're a pure Mercury Adept! How could you learn something like that?"

Alex half-closed his eyes and smiled enigmatically. "That is for me to know..."

"...and you to find out," Karst and Ryou chorused, making faces at each other. It was a common enough phrase around Alex. Even the newly arrived Ryou had learned to dread Alex's mysterious moods.

The four finished their meal with pleasant conversation. Soon, they wished each other good night and Karst departed for her room.

Once the door was shut, she stripped and climbed into bed. However, sleep stubbornly resisted her attempts at capture, and so she thought over the events of the day, including the confrontation at the armour shop.

She grinned. She was proud of Ryou. He had been so timid when they were growing up--except when someone he loved was threatened. In those instances, he became ferocious, the energy within him becoming released all at once in an explosive blast, devastating the attacker.

How sweet and chivalrous of him, Karst thought.

_"...she's quite beautiful."_

Karst shook her head against the pillow. Where had that particular phrase come from? She recalled that it had been part of Ryou's furious tirade against the shopkeeper. But why did she choose to remember it now? Why that, and not one of his sharp insults? Normally, that was the sort of thing her mind held, so she could employ something along the same lines against the next victim of her razor tongue. Why remember something like that? She mentally resolved to ask Ryou in the morning.

And, still puzzling over the workings of her subconscious, she rolled over and finally caught up with her elusive rest.

* * *

The next day was one of travel towards Jupiter Lighthouse. They didn't make it to the beacon, so that day they camped once more. Ryou watched Agatio and Alex retire. Karst had disappeared into the nearby forest--probably to relieve herself--which left Ryou alone, but agreeably so.****

He simply gazed out into the beautiful night. The stars were spread all over the cloak of darkness, and the silver moon seemed to surround everything with a luminous radiance. The sky seemed mysterious, the endless abyss containing a great secrecy that would confound humanity for eternity. Ryou, however, was not one of those who sought to pierce the veil of time and space, but was happy with the here and now. With a content sigh, he laid down on the slightly dew-layered ground, a peaceful feeling overtaking him.

"So there you are!" a charming voice exclaimed.

With an opened eye, the white-haired Adept stared into the face of Karst, a cheeky grin on her face. She sat beside him on the grass, taking in the wonderful sights for a minute. The moonlight seemed to enhance her beautiful sparkle, giving her an angelic appeal.  She simply sighed before saying, "You still didn't answer my question."

Ryou looked stumped. "What question? ...Oh, _that_ one." Once they had set off on their day's hike, Karst had taken her chance to ask about the words that had been restlessly prowling around her mind. Ryou was swift enough to avoid answering at that time, but not at this moment. 

She then looked at Ryou. "What do you mean that I'm beautiful?"

"Well," Ryou began, "you just have this…energy about you. It's like a bonfire, and every time you're near, I can simply feel this burst of heat radiating from you."

"I _am_ a Mars Adept, Ryou," Karst said sarcastically. "I radiate heat all the time."

Ryou rolled his eyes. "Gee, thanks for the reminder. But seriously, I love your eyes."

The Mars Adept's eyebrows rose up in curiosity. "My...eyes?"

"Yeah." Ryou then stared at the ground, a tiny blush on his face. "They're the most incredible shade of fuchsia. It's like, when I look into them, I can see all of your emotions. When you're happy, they light up the room. When you're sad, they just seem to crystallize with unshed tears. And when you're _angry_, they have this enchanting fire in them, which is why I get you riled up at times."

Karst then turned away from him, trying to hide her own embarrassment at his words. A slight blush grew over her, yet it was so small that no one but Ryou could have seen it. Oddly enough, she felt a tad warmer inside after hearing his thoughts on her eyes. With a voice so soft it surprised her, she asked him, "Is that all?"

Ryou shook his head. "That's not even close. There's so much about you that make you special."

Moving a tad closer to her without thinking about it, the white-haired boy then looked at her. "I've never met a girl like you before. You have this kind heart, as caring as any, yet you're brave and true. You can be as feminine as any girl, yet you're just as tough and skilled with weaponry as the greatest of warriors." 

He then joked, "Although that's made you quite the tomboy..."

"Tomboy?" Karst playfully raged. "I'll show _you_ tomboy!"

And with that, she attacked the unsuspecting boy, pinning his arms to the ground as he squirmed and attempted to get away. His shocked expression became a sly grin as Ryou simply gazed up at her, despite his somehow getting hot and bothered due to the close proximity of their bodies. Though she wouldn't show it, Karst began to feel even hotter than usual being this close to her best friend. 

"You know, Karst," he said, "You truly are a great warrior. A master Fire Adept, an expert with the scythe and a user of the martial arts. Yet, despite all of that, I know a technique that even _you_ can't defend against." 

Karst looked skeptical, unknowingly loosing the grip on his arms. "Oh really? And whatever could that be?"

With a wicked gleam in his coffee eyes, he said, "It's called 'The Tickle Torture'!"

Taking a surprised Karst unawares, Ryou flipped their positions and placed Karst on the soft earth. A smile crossed his face as he proceeded to have his nimble fingers dance all over her body. Numbed by the pleasure, Karst could only laugh as he tortured her, her giggles echoing throughout the starry night. She tried to roll to her left, yet Ryou tickled her right, and when she moved to her right, he attacked her left. The proud Mars Adept was reduced to tears as he continued to tickle her, her face turning a cherry red as her hands and scythe were rendered useless by the assault.

"Ry-ry-Ryou!" she tittered. "Enough! Cut it-HEE HEE HEE-out! Stop-AHAHAHA!!"

A smug grin crossed Ryou's face as he continued his attack. "I thought you were a warrior! What's the matter? Are you ticklish?" 

"N-no!" the Mars Adept cried as Ryou moved his hands down to her bare stomach.

"I think you are! And I'm not gonna stop until you say so!!"

And with that, Ryou then removed Karst's boots and used his Psynergy to tickle her thighs and soles. The combined assault on both legs and midriff made Karst squeal with laughter, though she remained stubborn not to give into the torture. Her spirit was willing, but the flesh was weak, as she began to plead and beg for mercy in between laughs.  

"So are you giving up?" laughed Ryou, who was having the time of his time tickling her. Karst's giggles and squeals somehow made the silver-haired Adept melt, and the way she moved back and forth holding her belly, which was her weak point, made her seem like a cherub. 

"Y-y-_yes!_ I give up! I'm ticklish!" cried Karst, who loved being tickled like this. Her eyes were moist with tears of joy, her body surging with energy. She was breathing a tad heavily, though, which caused Ryou some concern. If he did anything to hurt her, he'd never forgive himself.

...And that's what she was waiting for, as Karst then jumped Ryou, preparing to deliver the same treatment unto him. 

"It's your turn," the Proxian declared in between breaths as she began to tickle Ryou with furious abandon, delighting in his cries and pleas. 

Her agile fingers danced up and down his body. Almost no place was safe as she wiggled her fingertips along his stomach, the palms of his hands, his neck, everywhere she could possibly conceive that her friend would be sensitive.

"Karst, st-_stop!_" Ryou nearly shrieked as she found a particularly susceptible spot. "I give! I" --he howled with laughter-- "give! Just don't--_do_ this anymore!"

"Uh-uh!" Karst wore a feral smirk. "No mercy!"

Ryou rolled from side to side, doubled up. Whenever he tried to protect one prone region of his body, the fiendish Karst would simply move to the next.

"_Karst! Ryou! _Shut _up_ already! I'm trying to get some shut-eye!" Agatio bellowed from the designated sleeping area. His words were accompanied by a drowsy mumble of agreement from Alex.

Regretfully, Karst tickled one last time before giving in. "I suppose we had better go to bed as well. Good night, Ryou...and" --she hesitated-- "…thanks."

Ryou gave her his most charming, adorable smile. "It was only the truth. Sleep well."

Karst left for her blanket, able to rest right away, since Ryou had first watch. She fell asleep with Ryou's compliments still happily in her mind.

**~ * * * ~**

Vyctori: Aww… ^_^ That was so cute!

Menardi: *grumbling* Yeah, except that Ryou had better watch where his hands are going with his tickling, because if he doesn't, I'm going to show off _my_ scythe, which makes my sister's look like a toothpick.

Vyctori: Better not let her hear that, because she _won't_ be pleased. Show your scythe to the reviewers instead.

Menardi: Right. *holds up gargantuan, blood-red scythe* You know what this is for, so if you don't want it used against you, review. Now.


	6. Frozen Angel

FINALLY! After a very long hiatus, Suzaku and I are _back!_ We've finally finished Chapter Six! Why was it so long in coming? Well, we started working on it way back before my wrist gave out. I procrastinated a little, then hurt my wrist, then procrastinated some more. Then poor Suzaku was having a few troubles, but now we've finally finished!

The reviewers . . .

SSJ-KybokSilverfang: Yeah, I thought that line pretty much summed up Alex's character. I'm glad you like the story, and I agree--Ryou can be so adorably nice!

Katsuharu Miyoku: Thanks for the (rather violent) gift! Not that that's a bad thing . . . I experience violence on a regular basis...

Menardi: Did someone call me?

Vyctori: See? Anyway, I've been waiting for an update to the birthday fic . . . gotta know what happens with Renamon and poor, _poor_ Yoshimi . . . !

Yoshimi Takahashi:

Menardi: *pumps arm* Yessss! Score! 

Vyctori: *sweatdrop* You're starting to pick up Yoshimi-lingo. Here, quick, take this cookie before one of your muses finds it! *passes over new cookie* I don't really think this counts as a fast update, but you can't really complain, can't you? *coughweyardweeklycough* Heh heh.

wolfarine: Well, I've finally reviewed! And I'm planning on doing _loads_ of _Golden Sun_ fics, so keep an eye out. I'll see if I can put Garoh in, but since we've already passed that point in the story, it might be difficult . . .

Allexandra Radcliffe: Yup, although Karst isn't so bad herself, is she? My personal favourite type of Adept is . . . drumroll please . . . Mars Adepts! Makes sense, since my three favourite characters (Karst, Saturos, Menardi) are all Mars Adepts, and I'm guessing that if I was an Adept, then Mars would be my element . . . .

Feral Claw: I can see Karst being the charbroiling type...and while your scythe might not be a toothpick, Karst, it still looks pretty puny next to Menny's!

Menardi: So there! *sticks out tongue*

Vyctori: *rolls eyes* Looks like you're not the only one with childish muses, Feral . . .

Akachi: Sugar high Agatio? Uh-oh . . . it took quite a while for us to update . . . . *gulps* And I'm glad you started reading again, Akachi. Let's hope we can keep your attention this time!

felix666: You know, that's not much of a threat. Menardi would probably receive him with open arms. Because the answer to your question is YES! You may commence sputtering now. ^_~

****

WOW! EIGHT REVIEWS! That's a record! *is very happy* And to the ones who read but didn't review, I want to break my record next time, so . . . . You know who you are . . . ^_~ Just kidding, you know who! ^___^

Anyway, you remember all the fluff that was in the previous chapter? Gone. Absolutely gone. We've kicked into major angst mode. You'll see why. This chapter took a lot of bouncing back and forth to get things exactly right, just to let you know. Hope you like it!

~ * * * ~

The next day, the group of four finally reached their destination: Jupiter Lighthouse. Karst hesitated before entering the structure; she stared up to where its heights were hugged by gray mist. The sky was almost ominously dark, and the wind picked at her cape, swooshing it about her shoulders.

_After all these weeks . . . months . . . I finally will be able to take my revenge against Isaac. She mentally spat his loathsome name. Her fingers curled into tight fists; her fingernails pressed painfully into her rosy palms. _I will be able to make him suffer, make him bleed for Saturos . . . and my dear sister. He could never know what his blind, unthinking actions have to me, to Weyard. I hope that he lasts a long, long time,___ she thought. I want his death to be lingering, slow, and drawn out . . . I hope he dies in incredible, screaming agony._

". . . K-Karst?" Ryou broke in hesitantly.

Her dark thoughts receded somewhat and she looked at him silently.

"Are you . . . all right?" Worried, he laid a hand on her forearm, which was icy to the touch--an oddity for a Mars Adept. "You're so cold. Here." He wrapped his azure cloak around her shoulders. "Is that better?"

"Yes . . . and yet no, Ryou." Karst shook her head very slowly. "While my body may be cold, it is nothing compared to my soul. Now, let's get going. I want to find Isaac, soon." She left his side, one hand grasping the cape and the other gripping her weapon, to enter the ancient building after Agatio and Alex.

Ryou bit his lower lip, staring after her as she walked stiffly into the lighthouse. Then, upset, he trailed after her.

As they moved through the decaying structure, Ryou couldn't help but compare her current demeanor with that of the previous night. When she wasn't thinking about Menardi and Saturos, Karst could be so joy-filled and carefree. But when she remembered, her lips would tighten, her heart would harden, and it would be as if she literally carried the weight of the world on her slender shoulders.

_And there's nothing that I can do about this_, Ryou concluded unhappily. _Karst will never, ever forget what Isaac did. The only thing that will dissolve her iced heart is if she destroys him, or if Menardi and Saturos return. _

Ryou smiled bitterly. _I might as well ask for all the Djinn in the world rather than to think that those two survived. I'd have more of a chance of having my wish granted. Karst will not give up . . . even if she destroys herself in her lust for revenge._

The white-haired lad moved silently through the Jupiter Lighthouse, consumed by his forlorn thoughts. He thought about how Karst was a loving, fiery girl as a child, and the adventures they had together . . . before the deaths of her close friend and older sister. 

_But now_, he mused, _a frozen soul resides in that angel of fire. Like the flames she controls, Karst is consumed by the thought of killing this Isaac, and I know she won't rest until one of them is slain. To see such a beautiful soul destroyed by blood vengeance is a heartrending sight indeed._

It was at that point that a light bulb went off in Ryou's head. 

**There is one way,** a voice stated in his head. **You can always try . . . the Tensuiga.**

_The Tensuiga? _My_ Tensuiga? Ryou repeated._

"_Ryou! Hurry up!" screeched Karst, her rising ire causing her to lash out at him and shattering his train of thought. "We need your help up here!"_

Still lost in thought about his blade, he absent-mindedly followed the four up the winding stairs to the near peak of the lighthouse. The sight up there amazed him. The cold atmosphere and icy wind made him believe he was bumping heads with the clouds as the five prepared for the arrival of Isaac and company. Ryou felt as though he could reach up a hand and find it surrounded by the heavy clouds. The atmosphere was intense, like the final few moments before a thunderstorm. It seemed to match Karst's taut wariness perfectly, as if the weather were a reflection of the Mars Adept's mood.

Agatio walked over to him and commented quietly, "You're worried about her too, aren't you?"

Ryou simply nodded as he continued. 

"I understand how she feels, and I can understand wanting to take revenge on one who slays a family member. I miss Menardi and Saturos more than anything. But Karst is taking it to the ultimate extreme. Her mind and heart are icy with vengeance, and she'll never rest until Isaac's blood coats her blade." 

"I agree, old friend," whispered Ryou. "Karst isn't in her right mind today. She's been silent and brooding, driving herself mad with this quest. She didn't even tease you today! Karst simply got up and said, 'Let's get going. Isaac's got a date with death today.'"

The burly Proxian then turned towards her direction and noted, "In all the years I've known her, I've never seen her this angry before. Such fury and hatred . . . it's a fearsome sight. It's consuming her, you know. If something doesn't happen to resolve this, soon, she'll be eaten up by her hate and will _never be able to go back to the person she is . . . or was."_

As Ryou and Agatio turned towards Karst, the two noticed a true change in their friend. She had become an aloof statue of fire. Karst's cherry eyes were as cold as the arctic, yet held a searing heat, enough to melt the very floor they stood on. Her lovely mouth, normally encased with a soft smirk or sarcastic smile, was gnarled and twisted into a cruel grin as she gripped her scythe, waiting for her mortal enemy and his lackeys to arrive. The Mars Adept's Psynergy blazed with pent-up ferocity. The vengeful power surging through her whipped up the air, sent her wild red hair flying about and surrounded her with a demonic crimson aura that made her seem almost evil. She posed such an awesome figure that even the normally composed Alex kept his distance from the deadly female. To go near her would be a death wish.

Concentrating on the battle that was near at hand, Ryou returned to his thoughts. As he closed his eyes, the ethereal melody of a girl's laughter filled his ears, yet it strangely did not bother him. Focusing his mind to clear the sounds, he continued his meditation, yet the fuzzy vision of a girl's smiling face seemed to bar his visions. As he then tried to clear the picture, the girl became slowly recognizable, until the picture was clear. He then realized those sounds and that mental portrait were from Karst the night before, which was seemingly ages ago. 

_She seemed so happy then_, Ryou thought. Then he opened his eyes once more to gaze at the incarnation of fury as she waited for her prey like a savage wolf. 

_If there was only someway I could heal her deadened soul . . . ._

**There is, Ryou,** the voice replied. 

_Who are you?_ Ryou demanded mentally, trying to convince himself he hadn't gone 'round the bend. 

**I am the voice within your sword. And I know how to help the one you refer to as Karst. But to do so, you must draw your Tensuiga.**

Figuring that it's not every day that he heard voices in his head and feeling a tad anxious to do anything to shatter the tension, the white-haired Adept unsheathed his blade quietly. 

No matter how many times Ryou drew his Tensuiga, he would always marvel at its beauty. The enchanted steel was as sharp as a razor, swift as the wind and impressively keen. Many times in a fight had Ryou crashed the sword through steel, flesh and stone alike, yet nothing could break or even nick the sword point. The blade shone like fresh-powdered snow on a winter's morn, with a three-quarter-blood channel on it. The light weapon was held together by a hilt of silver mythril, adorned with ancient symbols on the end. As deadly as it is breathtaking, the sword had a constant light sapphire glow. Per usual, a sudden surge of power erupted into his body as the sword continued to "speak" to him.

**This blade was forged by a high priest of Sol, and I am endowed with incredible healing powers. And in the proper hands, I can even revive the dead!**

_It . . . I mean, _you_ can?_ Ryou was stunned. He knew the sword was illustrious and held great healing abilities, yet he never knew it possessed the power to revive the dead. . . . Then again, he didn't know it could speak either. 

_If you can restore life. . . . then maybe I can revive Saturos and Menardi! _

**But wait. In order for them to be reborn, you need to find their bodies first. If you can do that, then reviving them is no problem.**

_So where can I locate the bodies?_ a giddy Ryou requested.

**Quit acting like a hyperactive child and I'll tell you, **the sword's voice sighed.** You need to hold the Tensuiga in front of you and state the person's name. I'll be able to pinpoint them to the exact location. Getting there is another matter.**

_Don't worry about that. I know the perfect person to help me_, Ryou thought. 

It was then that something was taking place beneath a group of four as sharp cries were heard. As he ran to the side along with Agatio to see the action, he saw that Alex had already left for some odd reason. It appeared that their metallic trap hole worked, as it gave way under two of the four people. A line of screams were heard as one voice yelled out of dismay while another, deeper voice, gave a sharp bellow as it fell as well. And though Ryou couldn't see them perfectly from atop the Jupiter Lighthouse, he did see two figures on the other side of the trap hole and a petite girl with aquamarine hair holding onto a burly young lad with red hair that seemed to be alight with fire. Those two seemed all right for the time being, as they fell on the platform.

"They're in trouble!" cried out the third, a young boy with golden hair and violet eyes. 

"I know, I know!" replied the fourth, a well-built young brunette with deep blue eyes. Rapidly his mind was pacing for how to save his two friends. 

The blonde lad called out, "Mia, Garet, are you two okay?"

"We're all right, Ivan," stated the blue-haired girl, who was pulling up the young boy with as much strength as she possessed. "But Garet's arm is broken! I can't hold him much longer!"

"We've got to save them!" exclaimed the young blonde. "There must be something we can do! Think of something, Isaac!"

As soon as the loathsome name was called, Karst's eyes widened in grim satisfaction. With a twisted smile on her face, she got up and held her scythe to her as she walked down the stairs to confront the slayer of her sister. Her Psynergy surging about her, she walked with a deathly purpose. Agatio and Ryou followed her at a safe distance, concern etched on both their faces as the three headed to the lower levels of the lighthouse. 

* * *

Down below, Isaac and Ivan were heading upstairs to find help. But before they could reach their destination, a hulking, grayish-blue male, a smaller male with snow-white hair and brown eyes, and a young female with cherry skin and long elvish ears blocked the door. At the sight of Isaac, it took all of Karst's willpower not to simply lunge at the brunette scythe-first. Instead, the intelligent warrior withdrew into her deliciously wintry hatred, calming herself so she would not make a foolish mistake.

"Who are you?" Isaac asked.

"I am Karst," she stated as the spokeswoman for the three, her eyes filled with poisonous hate. "And they are Agatio and Ryou."

"Well, our friends are trapped in that pit over there," Ivan explained, pointing to the opening in the floor. "Will you help us?"

Karst answered for the trio with a simple, "No."

"Then move out of our way so we can help them!" Isaac demanded.

"Remember the main reason we're here," Agatio reminded her tactfully, his blue hand preventing her from loosing her scythe. "Igniting the Jupiter Lighthouse is our primary concern."

"Wait . . . I think I've seen you somewhere," Isaac thought. His eyes widened in recognition. "Do you know two people by the names of Saturos and Menardi?"

Just hearing her sweet sister's name emitted from the mouth of her killer caused Karst to press her nails into her hand until they literally drew blood.

"Yes . . . I knew of them," she stated sweetly, with the sort of tone reserved for the condemned. "And do you know how?"

"How is that?" the Venus Adept asked, ignoring the deafening echo of peril that boomed like the knoll of a bell. He knew he was stepping a little too close to a terrible hazard, but he wanted to understand this death-dangerous warrior. He had never before been subjected to such intense loathing directed at him. And he had no idea why.

"That's because . . . Menardi is my sister," she stated, her eyes clouded with searing hate. "Or should I say, Menardi _was_ my sister until _you_ came along."

"What are you talking about?" Isaac asked, sensing her evil intentions.

"I've heard about the defeat of Saturos and Menardi at the hands of you and your compatriots," Karst raved. "You slew them--two of the best people I ever met. My dear sister, who was my closest friend. I loved her, and I loved Saturos like a brother. So now Ryou, Agatio, and I have to take their places in getting all the lighthouses lit. We're here not only to unleash the power of the Jupiter Lighthouse, but I'll take great pleasure in killing you, to give you a taste of the agony they went through at your hands. And I will also show your surviving friends--if they do live--how you've caused me to feel, what you've forced me to become."

"I had to stop them," Isaac cried. "If I hadn't, they would have unleashed the powers of Alchemy and destroyed the world!"

"Is that so?" Karst demanded, teetering on the brink of murder. "If the lighthouses aren't lit, the world will end! That's why my sister and Saturos risked their lives to enter Sol Sanctum and obtain the Elemental Stars!"

"You lie!" Isaac accused. "I'll _never_ let someone like you destroy Vale and all of Weyard!" He withdrew his sword; the sound of metal scraping against the sheath was cold, ominous.

Karst's smile was wicked and full of bloodlust. "If that's the way you're going to be, then we'll commence your death now. Agatio, Ryou, Alex . . . ?"

Agatio moved into position, but Ryou stayed where he was, silent.

"Ryou, what are you doing?" Karst snapped. "Help me _destroy this murderer!"_

Ryou shook his white-maned head. "No . . . you can handle this battle fine by yourself. I shall simply watch."

Karst shot him a terrible look, but did not press the point. "Where's Alex? He was supposed to help!"

But Alex had vanished during the confrontation, gone as completely as only he knew how. Karst chose not to pursue him; instead, she turned, and with a feral scream, raced forward with her scythe. She intended to finish the fight before it had barely started. However, Ivan blocked her blow with his light blade and parried.

Ryou watched the skirmish, worry furrowing his forehead. Karst seemed half-demented in her rage; even Agatio was tossing her concerned looks in between blows. He almost hoped Isaac would win, knowing that if the Venus Adept lost, it would mean a very bloody death for him. He didn't want Karst to lose the last amount of her innocence in such a terrible way.

However, since Isaac and Ivan relied so much on the other members of their team, they simply could not stand up against Karst's fearful wrath or Agatio's sheer bulk. First Ivan, then Isaac fell to the frigid stone floor of the lighthouse.

"So . . . justice has been served." Karst smiled wickedly. A tear in her cheek caused blood to slide down her face. The red of the blood and her burning eyes made her seem almost unearthly in her evil anger.

"Justice?" Isaac cried out in a hoarse voice. "You're trying to destroy the world and you call this justice?"

Her smirk vanished as she yelled, "You ignorant slime! You refuse to see what's right in front of you, and because of it, my dear sister and Saturos are _dead!" Saying the words aloud seemed to intensify her fury and pain. Then a terrible chill descended upon her. Calmly, she continued, "So, a life for a life, you will pay for what you have done, right now, as your blood washes out onto this floor. Say goodbye to the world, Isaac, for this is the last you shall see of it." She raised her scythe above her head, preparing for the blow._

"Karst . . . " Ryou whispered, knowing he could not stop her.

Then, as she swung the blade downward, aiming for Isaac's neck, two strong arms wrapped around her, preventing her from completing her kill. Karst's head whipped around and she looked straight into the liquid brown eyes of Felix.

"I can't let you do this," he said simply.

Karst wrenched free of his grasp and faced him. "Why not? You cared for Menardi and Saturos, too--unless you were lying all along."

"Killing Isaac won't bring them back." Felix's face was closed and sad. "I miss them so very much, but nothing can change what has happened."

_Nothing, Felix?_ Ryou thought, gripping the hilt of the Tensuiga.

"Felix, why . . . " Isaac seemed to be on the edge of consciousness. "You . . . liked them? But how? They were evil . . . "

"You don't understand." Felix shook his head. "There is a very good reason why we are doing what we are, one that you cannot comprehend right now."

"You have the Jupiter Star, Felix, don't you?" Karst interrupted, her mind on one thing only. "If you won't allow me to avenge my sister's death, then will you at least carry out her mission for her?"

"Of course, Karst. Everyone, let's go," Felix addressed four others, two men and two girls, whom Ryou had not noticed until that moment.

"Wait, Felix," Isaac called out.

Felix turned but said nothing.

"Here . . . take the Mars Star," Isaac fumbled with his pack and came up with a small silvery bag.

"Isaac, no!" Mia shouted from where she was supporting Garet.

"I trust him, Mia. I've known him all my life. Felix wouldn't deliberately do wrong," he told her.

Felix walked over and gently took the Mars Star from Isaac's weak grasp. Then, he reentered the building, on his way to the beacon. Karst and Agatio followed.

Ryou, however, remained behind. Waving his hand casually, he used his Psynergy to lift Mia and Garet from the trap. Mia immediately began healing Isaac and Ivan.

"I advise coming with me," Ryou mentioned almost conversationally. "You'll miss an interesting show, otherwise." Not waiting to see if they trailed after him, he, too left.

When he arrived at the aerie, he came in earshot just in time to hear Karst demand, "What are you waiting for? Throw the Star in!"

Felix walked to the cavernous hole and flung the orb in. At first, nothing occurred, sending a collective wave of disappointment amongst the two teams. Then suddenly, a brilliant burst of violet energy spread throughout the lighthouse and shot upwards, the power of Jupiter splitting the sky apart and shattering the shady thunderclouds. The ground shook with the intensity of the beam, quaking with such force that it seemed the lighthouse would topple and fall like a domino. 

Then all was quiet, as the giant star of Jupiter filled the hole, causing all who gazed upon it to gasp in astonishment.

"It's incredible!" Ryou breathed.

"Simply amazing," Garet marvelled as he and the rest of his group climbed the steps; they had been just in time to catch the spectacle.

"I've never seen anything like it . . . well, except for the Mercury Lighthouse," Isaac noted.

"Chequering the eastern clouds with streaks of light, the Jupiter Star flecked darkness like a drunkard reels from forth day's path and Isis's fiery wheels: Now, ere the violet sun advance its burning eye, the day to cheer and night's dank dew to dry. It seems yon Star hangs upon the cheek of night like a rich jewel in an Ethiope's ear; beauty too rich for use, for earth too dear!" Agatio mused. 

The whole group, including a stunned Ryou and Karst, gazed upon the poetic Mars Adept.

". . . What?"

"The world really _is_ ending if Agatio is spewing poetry." Karst's face lightened marginally as she made the small joke. However, her expression hardened once more as she faced her greatest enemy.

"As I recall, Isaac, we've a battle to finish," she spat, gripping her destroyer.

"So we do," Isaac agreed, hand on blade and cold eyes turned at the sight of the red-haired Proxian. The combined drawings of both scythe and sword pierced the still air like fingernails on a chalkboard. 

"You wish to keep fighting!" Ryou yelled, his eyes reflecting sadness. "You've made your point! Isaac is no match, and if it weren't for the help of Felix, he'd be slain! You shone enough of his blood to pay for the lives of Saturos and Menardi tenfold!"

"I'm going to finish this scum and avenge them," Karst spoke matter-of-factly. "So either stand beside me, or step behind me. Either way, you won't stop me!"

Her eyes burning with a vicious insanity, the proud female swept her blood-coated weapon at her mortal foe. But just as her blade was about to feast on his neck, a foreign sword locked around her weapon and she found herself staring into the defiant eyes of Ryou.

Karst's scream of rage literally caused a stone to crack.

"Damn it, Ryou!" she raved. "What do you think you're doing? Move so I can destroy him!"

Though he didn't raise his voice, every person there heard the white-haired boy's words distinctly: "I will not."

Though she wouldn't say a word, the hateful glare Karst gave him spoke volumes. The Proxian attempted to loose her scythe, but it was to no avail, her weapon remaining useless in the cold embrace. For when it came to a blade, no Adept was more skillful or deadly with one than Ryou. He then moved forwards, close enough so that his face was nearly touching Karst's.

"I've seen this before," Ryou began. "Your mind and heart are coated with the poison of hatred. All you can think of is the kill. All you wish is to execute Isaac, to take revenge. But do you think Saturos and Menardi would do the same?"

"Don't you dare come in the middle of this and start lecturing me, Ryou!" Karst screamed. "Don't you dare!"

"I know they wouldn't. They're too good and noble for that. And I know you wouldn't either . . . if you were in your right mind."

"So what are you saying, Ryou?" she yelled, confused by his words yet angered by his actions. He then slowly held one of her hands and gently traced it, staring deep into her eyes.

"What I'm saying is this. If you kill Isaac, you will have done what you accused him of doing to Menardi. Blood vengeance is just that . . . blood. It shall spill in Vale, in Prox, and all of us shall be destroyed by it. Do you truly wish your final tribute to Saturos and Menardi to be one that causes your descent into darkness?"

When Ryou spoke these words, Karst seemed to slowly lose her great anger, the apparent crimson tint fading from her eyes. She then dropped her scythe, feeling as if she had been in a mindless euphoria. The chilling wind blew all around her, yet she didn't notice it as her eyes saw each and every face, both friend and foe. Turning to view the bloodied body of her enemy Isaac, a part of her still wanted him dead, yet Ryou's wisdom sunk into her psyche.

_If you kill Isaac, you will have done what you accused him of doing to Menardi . . . _

It was at that point that Karst did something she hadn't done in many years. She . . . cried. Throwing herself into Ryou's arms, she completely broke down and wept like a young babe separated from her mother. Her hot tears staining his tunic, each and every droplet thawed her icy heart. She sobbed with no restraint, weeping for Saturos and Menardi. The echoes of her cries sounded throughout the great Lighthouse, the rain pouring down, cleansing all those there. The white-haired Ryou simply held her tightly, allowing her to vent her sadness so she could purify her soul. As Agatio walked over to give her some comfort as well, his tears shone as well, hidden beneath a glass wall. 

With slow movements, Ryou and Agatio supported the tired and weeping Karst as they moved to the elevator that would take them back to the Jupiter Lighthouse's entrance. Such a beautifully heart-rending scene was this that Garet, Ivan and Mia broke down as well, their sorrow adding to this poignant portrait. 

As they walked away from the scene, Isaac murmured a few words through his bloodied tears, now truly aware of what he did that cold day atop the Venus Lighthouse. Only he and the crying heavens could hear these words, simple in meaning yet powerful in sincerity . . . .

_"Karst . . . I'm sorry . . ."_

~ * * * ~

Vyctori: Whew! That's it, everyone! Quite a lot to take in, ne?

Menardi: No kidding! My poor sister! Why did you make her suffer like that? *murderous glare*

Vyctori: Er, I . . . uh . . . 

*doorbell rings*

Vyctori: *relieved* Whoops, can't talk now! Gotta answer the door! *runs over and opens door*

Agatio: ^_^ FWEEEEE! *charges in and slams into wall* *bounces off* FWEE!

Menardi: Oh no! It's not--

Vyctori + Menardi: SUGAR-HIGH AGATIO! AAAHHH!

Agatio: *bounces off another wall* FWEEE!

Vyctori: It's just like having Yoshimi's muse, Joe! It can't possibly get worse! *hides face*

Menardi: Do you think we could hold him for ransom?

Vyctori: No . . . Akachi would probably thank us for taking him off her hands.

Menardi: *snaps fingers* Drat. Anyway, review, everyone, or we'll send Agatio--plus several dozen Pixie Stix--over to your house and see how much you like it!

Vyctori: That's SCARY! *listens to huge crash and "FWEE"'s in another part of house* *moans* Why do these things _always_ happen to me?


	7. Ponderings

I tell you, Christmas holidays are a terrible thing. The general storm of activity around said holidays is what I'm blaming _this_ time for the _exceedingly_ long delay between updates. That, and a severe case of writer's block. ^^;; My apologies, everyone. It's totally my fault this time.

There were a LOT of reviews this chapter ( ^________^ ), so I might as well get started!

The reviewers . . . .

Allexandra Radcliffe: Hey, what can I say? I don't know about Suzaku, but I don't much like Isaac . . . well, considering my three favourite characters are Karst, Saturos, and Menardi . . . . Ahem. *sweatdrop* Thanks for the cookie, though! *eats cookie quickly, before muses can steal it*

Akachi: Thanks to your hyperactive muse, I now have extensive redecorating to do . . . . -_-;;; I personally support Karst/Puelle (when I'm not supporting Karst/Ryou, that is!). And you'll see about Saturos and Menardi, that you will . . . !

Empress Dotdotdot: Whatever gave you that impression, Dotdotdot-chan? ^_~

The way the whole collab thing works is a lot like our beta-reading arrangement, actually. One of us starts a chapter, e-mails it to the other. They tweak what the first person wrote, add on their own stuff, and e-mail it back. This can happen up to six times, depending on how inspired we feel, how long we want the chapter, the content, etc. Chapter Six was so well blended that I'm not quite sure what I wrote and what Suzaku did. Almost every sentence was a team deal. Although it's safe to say that my sections have no swearing in them, if that helps.

The last scene was Suzaku's, and Karst's rage at the very first was pretty much mine, but towards the middle it was mostly Suzaku's. I have no talent for description, so you're probably talking about his part. -_-;

Glad you liked the chapter--and fic! ^_^

Yoshimi Takahashi: Well, you know how I feel about _those_ two! And I understand what you mean about powerful things talking to people. . . .

Yoshimi, your Ringwraiths are starting to scare me. . . . Even more than Menardi.

Menardi: What do you mean, _even more than Menardi?_

__

Vyctori: Eep! I was just exaggerating! No one scares me more than you! Not even crazy Nergal from _Fire Emblem_ (another reason why my updates are in the toilet)!

Menardi: Goooood. Because I'd be forced to give you a reason to fear me.

Vyctori: 0_o;;

SSJ-KybokSilverfang: I agree with everything you said! Prox does indeed rock! ^_^ And so do Saturos and Menardi!

DragonTamer: Thanks a lot, to both you and Monsu!

BishouDuo (x3): *big grin* Thanks for the compliment of reviewing! Suzaku's great at ranting, ne?

You speak three languages? That's great! Or is it just random words here and there? And you'll have to ask Suzaku about the Tensuiga . . . he named it.

Valderaq: We inspired you?! Wow, that makes me so happy! And I'm not messing with dragons, so I'm updating! Good luck with your insurance!

******

WOW! Eight different people reviewed! That's _incredible!_ Thanks so much for the reviews, everyone!

Now, go read the chapter, considering it took me long enough to post this!

~ * * * ~

Agatio watched helplessly as his strong, fearless, independent partner cried her eyes out in Ryou's arms outside of Jupiter Lighthouse. He wished there was something he could do, anything to comfort her, but knew it was hopeless.

"I don't understand," Agatio mentioned to Felix, who also was standing uselessly by. "What's happened? When we first found out that Saturos and Menardi were . . . dead. . . ." He could barely say the word. He rubbed a thick hand across his eyes and took a deep breath. "She didn't cry then. Afterwards, whenever someone mentioned it, she still didn't weep. She just went hard inside, and became more so every day. Now. . . ." Both their gazes swung to where Ryou was murmuring soft nothings to Karst, trying to soothe her.

"I think it's because that she's lost all hope." Felix sighed, face sad. "Before, when she had thought of slaughtering Isaac on her hands, even though she knew in her heart that it wouldn't bring them back, at least she felt like she was _doing something. Now that even that one thing has been denied to her, she's just . . . well, collapsed is the only word I can think of it. It's as though her flame has been extinguished._

"It's really hard seeing her like this," he continued. "I've known her for three years and have _never_ seen her like this. I can understand why--I feel the same way--but I didn't think _anything could break her, ever."_

"Well, I guess we both were wrong," Agatio commented softly.

* * *

Felix's group opted to stay with Karst and the rest. They knew they would make no more progress that day, but Felix simply couldn't leave one of his best friends in the middle of the worst period of her life. As for the others, though they didn't know Karst personally, they were still sensitive to his wishes and didn't say anything, instead preparing camp and simply waiting.

Ryou sat on a stone, arms still cradling Karst. The fight and her emotions had worked together so that the Proxian was now sleeping a deadened sleep in his hold. Her crimson hair covering her tired and saddened eyes, she continued to murmur Menardi's name unconsciously. Like a mother, Ryou slowly and gently rocked her back and forth as he thought.

_Should I tell her what the Tensuiga said?_ he wondered. _But would she not believe me? Or, worse, would__ she believe me? If her hope returned after such a terrible time and then I could not resurrect Menardi and Saturos, that would truly destroy her._

He tenderly gazed at the sleeping Karst, normally such a stormy torrent of energy when awake, but now…His face sobered. He couldn't bear to see Karst this way. Perhaps he should start coming up with a plan to get to Venus Lighthouse. Before, when the Tensuiga spoke to him--and he still had trouble believing a piece of metal could talk—he had simply thought that he could have Alex use Teleport to take him there. Now. . . .

Karst stirred in his arms, interrupting his thoughts. Her eyes blinked open, at first clear, but then becoming leaden as she realized to which reality she awoke. As Ryou gazed onto her face, he saw that weakened spark in her crystal eyes literally die, and it nearly brought him to tears. 

_How the mighty have fallen_, Ryou morbidly thought. 

"Did you have a nice sleep?" he questioned softly.

A nod of her tired head was his answer. Despite her earlier slumber, she seemed no more rested than when she had crumpled on Jupiter Lighthouse. The white-haired Adept longed to tell her of his daring plan to revive her sister and close friend, but decided against it. If he did promise her their return, but failed to deliver, she'd never forgive him…and he'd never forgive himself.

"R-Ryou. . . ." Karst murmured softly. She then began to cry again, pressing her face into his tunic and continuing to vent her sadness. All of her pent-up emotions were released as she continued to weep in her slumber, Ryou's arms and body providing her with the loving warmth she so desperately needed right now. Taking a few slow steps, he carried his friend to a spot where she could rest easily, slowly taking mental steps in his fertile mind to restore her loved ones. With the greatest care, he placed Karst in her blanket, gently fluffed her pillow and watched as she unconsciously shook in the realm betwixt reality and sleep. 

As he stood guard over her, Ryou began to ponder. Yes, she had a tough attitude, great fighting prowess and a slightly stronger preference for violence over rational thought. However, though she'd be loath to show it, she too was subject to times of sadness, needing comfort and the reassurance that someone would catch her if she falls. Just as much as Mia or Sheba, she too had bouts of a feeling that Ryou could only describe as fluffiness. As she slept, with a tiny stream of tears on her frown-covered face, she seemed like such a cherub, an innocent young girl whose life had been torn asunder by the cruel winds of Fate.

_Such cruelty and pain does life force on those most undeserving,_ the white-haired boy mused. _Karst doesn't deserve this. Such a beautiful angel should have no reason to cry. . . ._

His eyes widened as the thought passed. _Where in blazes did _that_ come from?_  

To avoid thinking about that, he turned to look at Karst, who was softly whimpering. Though he wasn't aware consciously of what he was doing, he simply kneeled down and hugged her close to him. Just as she started to cry, she stopped again, the last bits of her energy drained from this soul-destroying day. She hugged him tightly as if it was a natural thing, which made his heartbeat speed up rapidly and his body heat up. 

_Okay, I'm not a Mars Adept, and we're not that close to the fire_, Ryou thought. _Karst isn't using any Psynergy . . . so why am I feeling so warm? And why do I like this?_

As she continued to squeeze her white-haired teddy bear, she then manoeuvred her face so that it was directly in front of his. Then, with only the fire as their witness, Karst kissed Ryou's cheek, her warm lips burning onto him in a sweet but short moment.

"Thank you," Karst whispered before she left this conscious realm. 

With a blushing face, Ryou swiftly got up and silently left the camp to head back to Contigo, hoping to find someone that could help him on this self-imposed mission.

_I don't know why she did that . . . but it felt amazing_, he thought with a tender grin on his face. __

With only the slow fire crackling, he vanished like a thief into the night. Though he considered it a trick by the flames and pale moonlight, he thought he saw Karst smile…

***

As Ryou silently plowed through the thick growth, he felt another Adept following him. Stopping and noiselessly preparing an attack plan, he stood onto the shadowed earth and fired off a powered-down Repukken so that it wouldn't hurt them, but allow him a good view. The wave tore through the leaves and struck, a stone-coloured blade reflecting it and sending energy sparks everywhere. Recognizing Phaeton's Blade, Ryou knew whom he was confronting.

_Felix,_ Ryou thought_. Show yourself, for I've no time for games._

As if the white-haired Adept summoned him, the brown haired Valean appeared, his sword still singing from the technique. His normally sombre brown eyes were focused on the fighter in front of him, trying to mentally read out his plan.

"So, Ryou, " Felix asked. "Where are you going?"

"I'm going to see a priest in Contigo," Ryou answered.

"This late at night?"

"I have my reasons," Ryou stated cryptically. "And don't take this as an affront, but I'd rather not tell you them."

"I guess hanging around Alex has you picking up his mannerisms," the Venus Adept responded. "Seriously, where do you think you're going?"

Knowing that he was stubborn and that he'd follow him all night if need be, Ryou sighed. 

"Fine then, Felix. I shall tell you my plan. But you must swear that you will tell no one of this."

Felix gave his word of honour. Having done that, Ryou began his story of his talking Tensuiga (at which Felix raised an eyebrow), the plan he cooked up and the confrontation atop the Lighthouse of Jupiter before his group came up there. Throughout the short narrative, Felix said nary a word, though his eyes told more than language could dream of. After he finished, Felix simply said one thing,

"She must mean a lot to you."

_Yes, she does_, Ryou thought. Then reflecting on that kiss on the cheek Karst gave him, a quick blush escaped him. Thankfully, the dim shadows covered it from Felix's eyes. As he got up and began to continue walking, he made one final request. 

"If I come back with Saturos and Menardi, you will be the first to know. If I do not, then for Karst's sake, make no mention of this plan. I don't want her to be hurt anymore."

"You have my word, Ryou."

As the Venus Adept watched Ryou vanish into the night yet again, Felix muttered softly to himself, "Good luck, Ryou. Fate guide you, for all our sakes."

* * *

As Ryou continued towards Contigo, he let his mind roam--specifically, back to that brief moment by the fire, where Karst had freed herself from her grief long enough to thoroughly throw him off kilter. Paying just enough attention to keep himself from getting killed by a stray monster, Ryou set himself to the task of pondering.

Why had she kissed him that way? Could it just be the kiss of two friends who had known each other for the majority of their lives? But if that was so, why did he feel so…tingly…even remembering it now?

Ryou shook his head, his silvery-white hair swinging back and forth across his back. Thinking about the problem only made him more confused. He could not deal with his emotions at the moment, not when more serious matters were pressing forwards, demanding his attention. Once he found out if the Tensuiga was indeed powerful enough to resurrect Menardi and Saturos, then he could concentrate on working out the enigma that was Karst.

The sun was beginning to rise as he finally stopped his walk. He knew that it would take him several days to reach Contigo by ordinary means, but if he were to allow himself only a few short hours to sleep and eat, he might be able to shave off a full day off his travel time. He didn't want to be apart from Karst any longer than he had to.

I know she has Felix with her to prevent her from doing anything…hasty, anything with irreversible consequences, but I won't feel better until I'm back with her, along with her sister and Saturos.

It took him almost six days to reach Contigo. He arrived just after dark on the fifth day, limping from a wound he only had time to half-heal. He knew he looked a real mess, with tousled hair, dark rings under his eyes from lack of sleep, scratches from both bushes and monsters alike, and clothing that was fraying at the edges.

I only hope that they'll let me in, Ryou thought to himself, a half-smile ghosting his face.

"Who's there?" the woman on the first shift of night watch called out.

"I am a traveller who needs to speak with the priest of Contigo," Ryou answered steadily.

The woman lit a torch and held it up, to better scan his appearance. Satisfied that he could do no harm in his condition, she let him through.

"You should probably have someone see to those wounds, young man," she advised.

Ryou smiled. "Don't worry. They're not a problem at all."

Slightly grimacing, Ryou fell on one knee, still weakened from the hike. The many cuts the flock of Harpies gave him with their claws two days back still lingered on his body. Though he decided to heal the venom with the Cure Poison Psynergy, he knew the wounds wouldn't be enough to do any major damage, so he went on. 

With a worried shake of her brown head, the young woman helped to lift the tired Adept up and helped guide him to the glorious Sanctum, where the priest awaited. The two flames softly burning at the door signalled he was still within the holy area, so with a tender knock on the door, the woman called out, "Priest Motoi, there is a young man out here who requests your assistance. He has travelled far and long, and has suffered great wounds in the process."

With a voice that was like the boom of a drum, there was a response. "I've been waiting for him. Send him in, Lorelei."

The doors parted, allowing the two to see the enclosed realm within. A great fountain with crystalline water flowed in the back, with flowers on all sides and a massive stone table in the centre. Standing behind the table was a middle-aged man of considerable girth about the height of Agatio, with lengthy black hair and silver streaks showing his age. Despite his naturally fearsome face, his wise green eyes were those of a kind, caring soul. As he stared into the tired and worn face of Ryou, he began to speak.

"So, Ryou. It appears you've come to me finally. What caused you such delay?"

The young man couldn't answer that, as the stress and fights of the past few days struck, causing him to silently collapse in front of the priest. Gently, he picked up Ryou and carried him to a bed so he could rest. Placing a hand on the Adept's head, the priest peered into his mind and read why he was here and what he hoped to gain. A sudden telling expression appeared on the priest's face.

Removing his hand from Ryou's forehead, Motoi set about gathering a small vial of water from the fountain. After speaking a few arcane words softly, he gently poured the liquid down Ryou's throat. As the healing water went down,the Adept's eyes opened slightly, allowing him a dim view of his surroundings.

"Sorry about falling out like that," he whispered softly. 

"It is okay, Ryou. The race you ran to get here, in the condition you're in, they would have slain lesser people," the priest consoled. 

"How do you know my name, Father?"

"Well, reading minds is one of the fringe benefits of being a Jupiter Adept."

"That was the next thing I was going to ask you," he admitted, leaning up on the bed.

"See what I mean?" Motoi joked. Then his normally jolly face became serious. "I read your mind while you slumbered, and I know now the reason you are here."

"You . . . do?"

"You wish to revive the ones known as Saturos and Menardi. Is that not right?" the priest asked.

"That's right, priest. They were unjustly slain and I wish for their return."

"And you intend on using the Tensuiga to do this, am I correct?"

"You are correct," Ryou said.

"Then you must learn about this blade's powers, and the cost of it."

Ryou was puzzled. "Cost? What do you mean cost?"

Gently retrieving the weapon and placing it in Ryou's hands, Motoi explained.

"Everything in this world has a cost to it. We eat meat at the cost of an animal's life. We plow fields at the cost of some land. We love one person at the cost of another. For each action you make in this life, you must be prepared to give some compensation."

Staring at the lethal beauty of the sword, he continued. "And so is the case with your Tensuiga. It is a holy blade. It has the power to cleanse the heart and heal the body. In this instance, you wish to restore the lives of two you hold dear . . . for one you hold dearer."

_". . . For one you hold dearer?"_ His mind asked itself. _Is he talking about Karst?_

_"If the person was of pure heart and noble spirit, reviving them with this weapon would be child's play. Yet, if the person in question was of a cruel bent, they too could be revived by the Tensuiga's power . . . but at a cost."_

_The priest's green eyes softened before he continued. "This blade can only be handled and mastered by one with the power to truly cherish others. It opposes darkness, and will never willingly heal the evil. If the blade were ever used _for reviving hateful ones, the user of the blade would die, their life force consumed by the blade as punishment for perverting its intended use."

Ryou's eyes became closed, taking in all this information. He never realized just how powerful and pure his blade was. And now, he learns that if he revives Saturos and Menardi, he could die, for how is he to know the blade's interpretation of good and evil? Did it have its own morals, or did it simply adapt the beliefs of its master? 

"And now that you know all of this, do you still wish to revive these two?" the priest asked.

In an instant of clarity, the scene of Karst crying at the top of Jupiter Lighthouse, reducing her to her current pitiable and broken state, flashed into his mind. To see that tragic replay confirmed his decision.

"Yes, Motoi," Ryou stated. Picking up his blade, he began to follow the priest into a dark corridor. The dim torches flickered in the cold stone hall, reminding the white-haired Adept of a medieval dungeon. He nearly ran into the priest as he stopped in front of a massive golden door.

"I am to be admitted," the priest chanted. "Open, open, open."

With bone-chilling slowness, the entrance was unblocked and the doors vanished. Feeling a cold prick of fear on his spine, the younger man followed the priest into the mysterious room. It was pitch black, with no windows or any lightof any kind. It was obviously filled with things, as Ryou tripped on a few things within that room.

"I am in," Motoi repeated. "Shut, shut, shut."

As the door closed with a dull boom, a brilliant light shattered the gloom and showered the room with brightness. With a carefree gait, the priest walked up to the platform on the far end of the corridor and picked up a small golden medallion. Inscribed on the item were two wings. One of which was soft and heavenly black, like one on a fallen angel, whereas the other was sharp and metallic ivory like a sacred demon. 

Ryou began to grow impatient, like a child waiting to playing with the Christmas joy their sibling usurped. He didn't know why, but he wanted that item immediately! It was a longing he couldn't describe, a thirst that he didn't know with what to quench.

_Why do I want that thing so much? _

With the greatest care, the venerable priest and Adept walked out of the corridor and back into the Sanctum. He looped the medallion around his charge's neck and began to speak.

"This item will allow you to move with the speed of wind and teleport to distant locations. Wearing this medallion, you can travel the world in a night. To find the two you long to restore, simply think of a happy memory involving them, and the medallion will take you to wherever they are. The Tensuiga will do the rest."

"Thank you, Motoi," Ryou cried, a few tears pouring down his cheeks. He would finally be able to see his old friends again. "I'll never forget this."

As he ran out of the sanctum and into the starry night to finish his promise, the priest simply shook his head.

It appears this young lady is quite important to you. In many eyes, such devotion would be considered . . . love, thought Motoi with a knowing smile as he headed back into the holy dwelling.

* * *

_"Okay, from what Felix told me, Saturos and Menardi died right beside each other. So if I find one, I can locate the other," Ryou muttered to himself as he plowed back into the woods, standing at the edge of a quietly flowing stream. "Now the first thing is to think of a fond memory involving the two."_

_Sheathing his blade, he focused his mind and thought back to long ago, to when he was just an innocent babe, and back to falling snow . . . ._

* * *

Time passes, people move. Like a river's flow, it never ends. A childish mind will turn to noble ambition. Young love will become deep affection. The clear water's surface reflects growth.

Now think on your memories and reflect upon yourself. . . .

"Can't catch me, Satty!"_ a tiny voice declared. A young Menardi ran through the snow-blanketed fields of Prox, her lengthy blond hair flowing in the biting wind as a snowball narrowly missed marring her pink skin._

"You just watch, Menny!"_ a younger Saturos said running after her. His blue skin and burning red eyes were in perfect contrast to the white snow about him, but as he scooped up another sphere in his hands and prepared to throw, two errant snowballs dropped from the clouds and got him in the back._

"Ah!"_ he winced, the swift cold shocked him into alertedness. _

"Great throw, Agatio!"_ A young girl giggled from the frosty treetops. Her short crimson hair and scarlet eyes were slightly lighter in the ice-blue sky, which still rained down snowflakes._

"You should never take your eyes off the enemy!"_ boomed the other person, a young man who was quite large and muscular for his age. Like Saturos, he bore the same blue skin, yet his eyes were more of molten lava, and not a dark magenta like his leaner friend. _

_Jumping down from their protective foliage, they proceeded to team up on the unsuspecting Saturos and pelt him with snow. Seeing this, Menardi had to help out her friend and started shooting right back at the deadly duo. _

_Both sides were so absorbed in helping their partner and blasting the other two senseless that they didn't notice a young boy's eyes open at the top of the hill where they lay, revealing two chocolate ones full of mischief. . . ._

_They didn't see the hands slowly pick up some snow and form it into lethal weapons. . . ._

_They didn't see the figure above them take aim. . . ._

_But they surely felt it when it fired._

_Agatio, Karst and Saturos were all hit with the sneak attack. Only Menardi managed to dodge the trick and formed a snowball to throw right back. The counterattack struck the person, driving him forward to roll down the hill, ending up with him covered in snow. As he brushed himself off, the person was revealed to be. . . ._

"Ryou!"

_The little boy simply laughed at the foursome, his snow-white hair shifting in joy. Even though he had taken a less-than-dignified roll down the snowy hill, he still felt victorious. What a marvelous trick! What genius! What skill! What. . . ._

_Pow!_

_The stinging snow pelted down on Ryou heavily as his friends joined forces to take down the lone wolf. Snowballs of all sizes struck him, causing him to strike back as best he could. For one against four, he gave as good as he got, effectively taking out Saturos, then Menardi, and by a stroke of luck (and a snow bump), Agatio._

_Leaving just him and Karst._

_Circling each other like in their training, they each had a snowball in their hand, each waiting for the other to make a false move or error. The other three were silently, watching this showdown. Only the wind blowing could be heard._

_And then, Karst struck. Whipping out her hand in an instant, she threw the snowball right at Ryou, but he narrowly escaped and formed another. He tried to end it, but her lightning fast reflexes served her well, and Karst gracefully dodged. Standing about five feet away, the snowball instead struck Saturos in the face. She then picked up the icy powder and threw one snowball, which Ryou easily evaded. Then she threw the second and it hit him square in the face. _

_He fell backwards to the snow-covered earth with his friends on top of him throwing snow in his face, vanquished in his own game, but happy in his defeat. . . ._

* * *

He then found himself kicked out of the memory and into a chapel. The inside was pitch black, so he knew it was still night.  

_It works_, Ryou crowed mentally. _It works! It. . . ._

He then saw a large crystalline coffin, containing the bodies of Saturos and Menardi. Aside from the wounds they suffered in the battle against Isaac and friends, they didn't look any different alive than dead. Slowly drawing his Tensuiga, he muttered a silent prayer before opening the coffin and looking at the two.

_Will this work? Will the Tensuiga accept these two and revive them…or will I revive one at the cost of my own life?_

Taking a long, deep breath, he placed the blade onto their hearts and waited. The sword began to glow a deep bluish color, which began to cover the two Proxians. Ryou could only wait as time seemed to stop. . . .

And suddenly, Saturos and Menardi's eyes opened slowly. Waking up from their deathly slumber, they slowly got up and took in their surroundings. 

"Wha-what happened?" Saturos asked Menardi. "The last thing I remember was falling down the Venus Lighthouse. . . ."

"So do I," Menardi said, confused and a tad nervous. "But then . . . how did we get here?"

"I brought you here," Ryou answered her.

Menardi, just having been revived from the dead and it being the middle of the night in a strange church with no recollection on how she got there, did what any person would do. . . .

_Bap!_

"Gee, what a show of gratitude," muttered Ryou as he rubbed the bump on his head where her fist had connected.

"Ryou?" Saturos's face gave way to a warm grin at the voice, which gave way to an even warmer hug. "Ryou! It's you!!"

Feeling a bit sheepish after striking him, she used her Wish Psynergy to heal the bump while hugging the Adept herself. "It's been so long!" she cried, tears pouring down her cheeks. 

Ryou couldn't help but cry either. It had been so long since seeing them, and for a few minutes, they just stood there, not saying anything, but saying everything. 

"How . . . how did you do it?" Menardi asked.

"Apparently, my blade has a bunch of healing powers, one of which being the ability to restore those of pure heart."

"So, we're good?" Saturos then got up and shouted. "Ha! Up yours, Wise One!!"

Menardi and Ryou simply backed away from the crazed Proxian.

"Are you okay?" Menardi asked, thinking this whole experience has sent him round the bend.

"Of course I am!" Saturos gloated. Then his face grew a bit sadder. "But where are Agatio, Felix and the others?"

"And where's my baby sister?" Menardi half-demanded.

"You'll see them, soon enough," Ryou laughed. "Now just hold hands. . . ." 

And Ryou teleported them away, the warm kiss Karst gave him allowing them the memory for a safe return….

* * *

Back at the camp, Felix's group had gotten to know Agatio and a somewhat-better Karst over the past few days, and had developed a sort of bond with the two Proxians. When Ryou's whereabouts were questioned, Felix told them he had gone to meet with some old friends. (Felix couldn't help but notice a slight frown from the Mars Adept when she heard that.) After introductions were made and stories were told over a nice fire and hearty meal, new friendships were formed, including the formation of the "Terrible Trio," which consisted of Jenna, Sheba and Karst. No one there wanted to get on the wrong side of those three, so things were generally upbeat.

Then Alex came back.

At first, Agatio and Piers had to hold Jenna and Karst back from mauling the Mercury Adept, though Felix thought the two males wouldn't have minded if they had. As usual, he entertained few questions and gave fewer answers, which irked everyone there. His comments at Contigo were not forgotten, nor forgiven, as it was basically everyone vs. Alex. 

A tiny ring like that of a bell signaled the trio's arrival. Ryou simply strode out in front, a soft yet secretive smile on his lovely face. When the group saw him return, Agatio lunged over and gave the Adept a huge pat on the back that knocked him flat. Karst gave him a hug, which had him seeing red for a few moments. Jenna, Kraden and Sheba bombarded him with questions, while Piers simply gave a warm smile. Alex, who wouldn't have cared if he suddenly sprouted three multi-colored, fire-breathing heads and grew twenty feet tall, simply gave a little quirk of the lips. And when his eyes met Felix's, the sparkle they had made the Venus Adept giddy.

"As Felix told you, I went to go visit a few friends. Though _most_ of you cared," he shot a steely glare at Alex, "I decided to bring them back with me. Please step out of the shadows so they can get a better look."

As the bushes parted and Menardi and Saturos appeared, everyone had a different reaction. Jenna and Sheba began to cry openly, while Felix tried to wipe away the tears of happiness on his sleeve. Piers (who didn't know that much of the two), was in shock as well. Agatio's face was a mixture of joy, astonishment and disbelief. Alex's was that of disbelief and horror, as well as fear. 

Only Karst spoke, slowly walked up to her older sister, and said simply, "Menardi . . . my sister. . . ." then proceeded to cry into her dress. Unlike last time, however, these were tears of pure, radiant joy as they melted the last bits of ice around her heart. 

As he cried, she took a moment to glance at Ryou, whose eyes were drowning in unshed tears. The Proxian decided that explanations could wait.

For right now, she had everything.

~ * * * ~

Vyctori: Well, that's everything! So far, so good, I think. Sorry once again about the long delay. *dramatically* Fate conspired against us, and--

Menardi: *casts Fiery Blast* That's enough out of you.

Vyctori: *after putting self out* What, only Fiery Blast? You must be in a good mood!

Menardi: I am. And in order to prolong my good mood, you all should review. Because we all know what happens if you don't. . . . *cracks knuckles*

Vyctori: 0_o; Er . . . what she said. *walks off quickly*


	8. Lost But Not Alone

A/N: Wow, it's been a while. It's mostly my fault, too. -sweatdrop- I've been a horrible, horrible procrastinator, as poor Suzaku's found out. Sorry, everyone.

This whole chapter was written by Suzaku alone, actually. I don't think there's anything that I wrote in it. So kudos goes to him and him alone, okay? -smiles-

The reviewers. . . .

Allexandra Radcliffe: -coughs- You thought a _month_ was bad? Heh. And I think I started to read your fic, but I kinda forgot about it. Better go take a look, then!

Lunaris Celestius: I'm not quite sure if I should be welcoming you back, or you, us. -sweatdrops- Hope things have been going well for you in the meantime!

Semaj Paradox: It did? Crap. Talk to Suzaku about that—he was the one who wrote it. You have Karst as a freeloader? All I can say is, from my experience with her sister, good luck!

Menardi: And what's _that_ supposed to mean?!

Vyctori: Heh heh . . . heh? –biiiig sweatdrop-

Yoshimi Takahashi: All right, what do you want from me? Kidding, but wow, that's a lot of praise! Thanks! –blushes-

BishouDuo: Four languages—that's great! It's a good thing you said waiting _patiently_, because, well . . . –checks previous update- it's been a bit since this was updated. –nervous laugh-

Viktor Mayrin: Well, considering they seemed to be just generic villains until then, I can see why. Most Satty and Menny fans didn't like them until then, either. Though I of course had to be different!

----

Thanks a lot, everyone, for reviewing! It was muchly appreciated.

Once again, I'm sorry about the long,_ long_ wait you've had. Hopefully, I'll do better next time. But without further ado (great phrase, that), here's Suzaku's chapter!

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Ryou woke early.

He always woke early, just as the sun was beginning to rise. Unless he was completely exhausted the night before from training, fighting, traveling--whatever it was--he would be up as dawn was breaking. The young man didn't know why it always happened that way. It just did

The same couldn't be said of his traveling companions. Especially one in particular. Sometimes she would rise about the same time he did, and other times . . . not. As he sat up and surveyed the clearing in which they had camped for tonight, he saw this was one of those not-times.

Across from the ashes of the small fire the travelers had built last night, what appeared to be a large bundle of cloth lay rather still. The only sign that it was something other than that was a faint rise and fall indicative of breathing. Somewhere in there lay Karst, as she continued to sleep.

Ryou smiled faintly. They had been traveling a couple of days now, after Ryou had revived Saturos and Menardi with his Tensuiga. And over those few days, he had noticed that the others looked at him differently. Agatio was in a near constant state of awe, while Jenna and Sheba sometimes gave him stunned looks. Felix said few words about it, yet when he looked at the white-haired boy, his eyes said, "Thank you." Piers was amazed that such skill could be used, while Kraden constantly asked him questions about the sword's metal, origin and such. Despite his great patience, he eventually began to have thoughts on sealing the scholar's mouth shut.

As for Karst…

He had begun to feel a tad bit differently towards his best friend, and how every time she'd talk to him, a warm glow would fill him. Every time he thought back to that kiss, he blushed like mad. But then again, maybe it was something else. After all, they seemed to understand each other, and…. Wait. Why was his hand reaching toward her?

The white-haired Adept found himself crouching right next to Karst, right by where her head emerged from her blanket. She had her face buried in the cloth, leaving only her mop of hair visible. His fingers were scant inches away from touching these short cherry locks. He blinked, face burning a bright red. What was he doing?

In an instant, he had snatched his hand back, an apology already forming on his lips. He stopped, though, once he realized that she was still asleep. The blush was still hot on his cheeks, now compounded with the foolishness he felt. He groaned softly, put a hand to his forehead.

"...I must still be tired," Ryou muttered to himself.

At this point, the Mars Adept mumbled something unintelligible, and rolled over. Ryou's ears pricked slightly; he was naturally curious what she was saying. That, however, was very quickly forgotten as her face came into view. A faint smile was on her lips.

_She _is_ pretty_, Ryou's mind thought.

And his hand was reaching out again, this time to touch her cheek. Unaware of what he was doing, he gently touched the silken red skin of Karsts' cheek. Ryou was swiftly brought back to earth by the thought of what she'd do if she saw him doing this, never mind her loving-but-absurdly-overprotective-older sister Menardi.

The boy leapt backward, bowed, and blurted out, "Excuse me, Karst! Forgive my rudeness!" heedless of the fact that she still hadn't woken up. He then turned around and headed off toward the nearby stream to wash his face and regain his senses with a couple splashes of cold water.

Behind him, Karst raised her head, blinked muzzily at the form of Ryou's retreating figure, then went back to sleep, blissfully ignorant of this whole affair.

-----------------------

"Ryou, is something wrong?" Karst stared at him, a look on concern evident in her scarlet eyes.

"Hm?"

"You've been acting strange this morning, ever since I woke up. And your face is turning red again. Are you sick?"

Ryou suddenly found a hand touching his cheek. He froze.

"You're a little warm. See, you're sweating! We'd better take a rest."

His mouth open and closed soundlessly, until the Proxian finally took her hand away--eliciting a sigh of relief, but also faintly of disappointment--and gently but firmly steered him toward a large fallen log by the side of the road. "Sit," she commanded. He did so.

She sat down right next to him and dug around in her pack before extracting a Vial. "Here, have some."

Ryou accepted and took a sip of the curative drink. His mouth was remarkably dry.

"Thank you, Karst," he said, glancing toward her.

She smiled. He had to look away before his face flushed yet again.

The two of them sat in relaxed silence, watching the leaves of the trees lining the road flutter lightly. The sun shone, birds chirped. The air was pleasantly warm.

"It is a perfect day," murmured Ryou softly.

"Yes, it is." Were the log high enough off the ground that her feet could dangle in the air, Karst would have been swinging her legs idly.

"Ah. Where were we going again?"

Karst turned to him, looking slightly peeved. "Toward Contigo, of course!"

"Right," answered Ryou. He fell silent, looking downward. "But...I thought Contigo was to the east. I believe we have been traveling west."

". . . What?" the Mars Adept growled. Her good mood was leaving her fast.

"I mean, we have been heading away from the sun this morning. Well, now we are going toward it, as it is now afternoon. So that means--"

"Why didn't you point this out earlier?" interrupted Karst, suddenly. The peeved look returned, but stronger. She sprang up and loomed over Ryou, who instinctively leaned back.

_She isn't nearly as cute this way,_ Ryou thought. _Well, actually . . . maybe she is. In a different manner. Kind of scary, though._

"Because I . . . was following . . . you . . . and. . . ." he stopped and hung his head, knowing he was a dead man either way. "I don't know."

The girl let out a heartfelt groan.

"Argh. Why didn't I realize it myself?" she muttered darkly. "Get up. We have a lot of distance to make up."

With nary a further word, she reached for her pack, spun on her heel, and marched back down the way they had come. Ryou stared at her retreating figure, then jumped up and hurried after.

"Wait, Karst!"

--------------

"We're lost."

Ryou nodded.

"We should have passed the others by now, but I haven't seen any sign of them."

Ryou nodded.

"But we did follow the same road. We had to have."

Ryou nodded.

"Stop just nodding and say something!"

Ryou nodded. So Karst whapped him.

"Ow! Karst! Why did you do that?"

The Mars Adept grumbled in frustration.

"Because you're not helping! We have to find our way again . . . this forest is too thick." Her eyes scanned the region. None of this looked familiar.

"Perhaps we missed a turn somewhere farther back?" Ryou suggested, still rubbing his head where Karst had hit him.

"I'm telling you, we're still following the same way we came!" she snapped, spinning to face him.

He shrank away slightly from the outburst, feeling her glare start to burn into him.

"You need not yell, Karst," he said, scowling a bit.

She stared at him, then softened. "I'm sorry, Ryou. I shouldn't have done that. . . . I'm not used to being lost." She sighed.

Ryou smiled back at her.

"It's all right," he answered. "I understand."

Karst then blushed. He wondered why, until he looked down at his hand. It had developed a mind of its own again, and had reached out to take hers in a gentle grip. Now he blushed, and let go, stepping away.

"Ah. Um. I suppose we should . . . try to get our bearings," he quickly said.

Karst nodded.

"We need to see our way farther from this point, somehow. Mayhap we can find the others."

Karst nodded.

"I can . . . I can go climb a tree and take a look, perhaps?"

Karst nodded. Then she realized what she was doing, and finally spoke. "I'll climb with you. Uh, let's go up that tree." And she was off toward a large oak, dropping her pack on the ground before starting upward.

"Wa . . . wait for me!"

The ascent was quick, as both of them were rather agile. They soon found themselves near the top of the tree, and looked around, straining their eyes for familiar landmarks. It was quite tall, and they could see for miles, it seemed.

"I can't see them. . . ."

"I can't either. But . . . wait, is that Felix?"

"Where, Karst?"

"Over here. Let me show y--Ryou!"

"Wah--"

As Karst turned, she had accidentally elbowed him, knocking him badly off balance. Ryou windmilled slightly to regain his balance; she almost managed to grab his hand, but just barely missed. He fell off the branch.

"Ryou!"

Karst looked much panicked, the white-haired boy decided as he pitched off the tree. Much more than was warranted. But then, she'd never seen him use this technique quite yet.

That is to say, after the second it took him to reorient himself, Ryou held his hand down to the earth and used his Sepukken attack. A long blast of wind collided with the earth, leaving a small crater, and slowed his fall, allowing him to somersault onto the grass. Instead of plummeting like a rock, as the young Proxian apparently had expected, he drifted down gently, almost like a feather.

"Ryou?"

He could only imagine her wide-eyed look as she stared down after him, as the leaves blocked his view of above. As he landed, he kicked himself away from the lower branches that grew out from the tree. Eventually, he touched down on the ground, where he looked up.

Karst was already scrambling back down the side of the tree.

"I'msosorryareyouokay? Ryou!" She leapt down from the lowest branch, panting not out of exertion but rather from relieved fear, and was by his side in a moment.

"I'm fine, Karst. Really." He managed to smile at her.

Karst was not so easily calmed, though.

"I'm so sorry! I didn't want to hurt you!"

"But you didn't hurt me! I'm all right--please, stop, you need not--umf!" Thud.

The young man was presently interrupted in mid-handwaving-reassurance by a sudden tackling hug. Karst threw her arms around Ryou's midsection, and hence threw him to the ground on his back, where he landed with a light bump of his head. "Ow. Karst, now you _are_ hurting me."

She didn't seem to hear him at first, instead simply burying her face in his chest.

"I'm sorry!" she continued to say, somewhat muffled.

_She's overreacting_, thought Ryou. His arms instinctively wrapped back around her, and he tried to pat her comfortingly. Hmm. This was kind of nice.

Karst finally lifted her head up, looking straight at Ryou. Their eyes met, and time froze for just a few moments.

Blink. Blink.

"Are you okay, Ryou?" she said.

He started to nod, then said, "Yes."

Another moment passed, then both laughed nervously at the same time.

Instead of a sudden springing away from each other--or rather, Karst jumping off of Ryou and him then scrambling away--they slowly picked themselves up off the ground. Both were blushing badly, neither exactly sure why. In silence, they brushed the dust off and reassembled their gear.

"So," said Ryou, finally, "you saw Felix earlier?"

"Yeah, I think so," Karst answered, in a softer tone than normal.

"Let's go, then."

------------

"Ryou?"

"Yes?"

"How much farther do you think it is to the stream?"

Silence. Then, Ryou answered, "I don't know. I didn't get a chance to see the stream back there."

". . . Oh yeah. Um . . . then, maybe we should climb a tree and look around?" A faint note of embarrassment could be detected in her voice.

Both stopped, looked at each other. Ryou nodded. "Why not?"

They found a tall oak, and carefully made their way up, Ryou first out of modesty. Soon, they were in the canopy of the forest.

"There it is," Karst pointed.

Ryou sighted down her arm from behind her, leaning against a leafy branch to steady himself. After a few seconds of peering through the greenery, he said, "Ah, yes. I can see it. Hmm . . . once we get there and follow it, it should lead us to the ship."

"Sounds great." She turned her head to speak to him over her shoulder.

"Can we rest first, though? We've been walking a while."

Ryou nodded once, then began the descent. When he had almost reached the bottom, about the jump down to the ground, he glanced up, and found Karst moving out onto a large branch just above. "What are you doing?"

"I like it up here. I think it'd be nice to take a break right in this tree." She settled herself down on the branch, then beckoned. "Come on. I promise I won't knock you off again."

She grinned, and Ryou smiled back at her, after a moment. "All right."

It was not difficult for him to clamber back up and settle down, to her right. They were close enough that their hips almost brushed against each other. The branch was quite wide, so there was little worry about falling by accident. Not too much, at least.

Now, Karst swung her legs freely, while humming a soft tune. Ryou relaxed, and looked out into the forest. He could actually see a bit of the stream from here.

"How much longer until sundown?" he asked, after a while.

"We've got several hours, I think. Plenty of time. It's summer, after all."

"Mmm."

A breeze suddenly gusted through, bringing with it a few stray leaves . . . and some dust.

"Ow!"

"Ryou? Are you all right? What is it?"

"Something got in my eye," he said, clapping his hand over his face. "Ow. . . ."

Karst reached out, taking his shoulder so as to steady him. "Here, let me see."

She lifted his hand away, revealing a slightly reddened eye.

The Proxian reached up and brushed the tear away, and peered into it. "Hmm . . . I think your tear washed it away. You'll be fine."

"Thanks, Karst."

Now she realized how close she was to him. Karst could see her own face reflected in Ryou's large, liquid brown eyes. It was only with great presence of mind that she prevented herself from jerking away suddenly, because that might have unbalanced one or both enough for a spill out of the tree.

"Ah...um..." In fact, she wasn't moving away at all. And neither was he. They simply . . . sat there.

Another gust of wind flowed through, momentarily breaking the spell. Ryou quickly (but carefully) formed a bit of his Psynergy in front of both of them to create a shield. When the wind passed, he did not remove it, but simply moved it upright, above the two of them.

They simply looked out over the forest, not speaking.

It was awkward, yet not awkward. The slightly tense air was in a way expectant and exciting. One waited for the other to speak, but was bursting to say something first. In the end, as such situations tend to go, they urged to each other at the same time.

"Ryou. . . ."

"Karst. . . ."

And both stopped, of course. Then laughed, easing that tension just a bit. Ryou's left hand, the free one, reached for Karst's right, clasping it. She entwined her fingers in his and squeezed gently. Each was blushing furiously at this point, but neither seemed to care, or even notice much.

"Have you ever. . . ."

"Ever . . . ?"

Ryou couldn't work up the courage to ask it out loud, but the Proxian somehow caught on.

"No . . . the boys back in Prox always thought...always thought that my sister and I were tomboys. And I guess, before now, I never really thought about. . . ." She shrugged, and smiled weakly.

He nodded, fell silent, before responding. "And I . . . well, you know that I have kept myself apart from many people for the majority of my life." He chuckled softly.

Words ceased once more, and they just looked into each other's eyes, smiling.

"Do you want to kiss me?"

". . . What?" The bluntness of the question nearly had Ryou fall out of the tree.

Karst shifted on the branch nervously. She looked about as surprised as he was at her own question. "Um . . . do you want to kiss me?"

Ryou stared at her. Her sparkling ruby eyes were wide open, inquisitive and uncertain. But they also held a sparkle of expectation. She unconsciously licked her lips, and he reflexively did the same. While continuing to study her face and this possibility before him, he found himself suddenly unable to speak. So he decided not to, and instead, slowly leaned toward her. She did likewise, tilting her head slightly as he neared.

Their lips met, hesitantly. She felt soft, moist and as warm as a raging fire. They drew apart for a moment, as if slightly stunned by this tingling touch and then moved forward again to press more firmly against each other. Ryou closed his eyes, as he felt the warmth spread from the kiss throughout the rest of his body. Her hand tightened around his, and he squeezed back in response. Karst's heart hammered, her blood pounded, and yet, a part of her was at such wonderful peace.

The wind picked up once again, buffeting the tree slightly. With reluctance, they finally pulled away from each other, blinking slowly.

Before he could even open his mouth to say anything, though, Karst leaned against Ryou, nestling her head on his shoulder. He let go of her hand, wrapped his arm around her waist, and drew her against himself, resting his cheek against the top of her head. She smelled of cinnamon and strawberries and flame and passion; she felt like a silken cloud that had drifted into his embrace.

They stayed like this for a while longer. Minutes? Hours? Seconds? Whatever. Ryou couldn't tell, nor cared. How foolish of him to have wanted to say something earlier; this was all that was necessary.

A brush against the base of his neck. She had slowly moved her arm up and across his back, and her fingers faintly tickled him there.

"Ryou?" she murmured.

"Yes?"

"Do you want to kiss me again?"

Ryou laughed softly. "I do, but. . . ."

"It would kinda ruin the first one to do it again so soon?"

"Yes," he laughed.

Karst just nodded.

"We really should get going, though."

"Mmm. . . ."

"I know. I don't want to move either."

And more silence. Only heartbeats, soft breathing, the rustling wind . . . and the growling of Menardi and Felix as they each handed over twenty gold pieces to Saturos and Jenna.

"Told you Ryou would make the first move," Jenna smirked as the two Mars Adepts flashed victorious grins.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Menardi: -bashing Vyctori about- How dare you go for _five months_ without updating?! People are going to think I've gone soft!

Vyctori: -trying to flee and failing miserably- I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I've been busy and procrastinate-y and bad and I won't do it again and I'm about to pass out from lack of air! –gasps in breath-

Menardi: Well, just to prove I _haven't _gone soft, I'm going to be extra vigilant in making sure you lot review. So do it. Now.

Vyctori: -limping away quietly- Helllllp. . . .


End file.
